Canada's main stock index climbed Monday as the price of oil and gold strengthened and investors continued to digest the market implications of another Donald Trump presidency.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 55.39 points at 43,389.60. The S&P 500 index was up 23 points at 5,893.62, while the Nasdaq composite was up 111.69 points at 18,791.81.
Several big U.S. companies are lining up to report their latest quarterly results this week. The headliner arrives on Wednesday with chip-maker and market heavyweight Nvidia, but investors will also be watching Lowe’s and Walmart on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Deere on Thursday. Underpinning it all, investors continue to try to determine the trajectory of continued interest rate cuts, both by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada.
South of the border, the picture is less clear. The general consensus is still for the U.S. central bank to announce a 25-basis-point cut at its next meeting on Dec. 18, but Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell commented last week that there is no rush to continue to lower rates. The loonie's slide comes as the U.S. greenback is soaring on the re-election of former president Donald Trump, gaining ground not just against the Canadian dollar but against a pack of foreign currencies.