TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index seemingly continued to shrug off trade tensions as it ended in the green on Thursday.
The tariff dispute between Canada and the U.S. has ratcheted up since trade negotiations fell apart last week. Both countries have accused each other of implementing eleventh-hour changes to the deal that led to the talks collapsing.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America after trading barbs with Canadian politicians including Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
“I’m reading the headlines and those headlines are, of course, a little bit concerning, a little comical, a bit of everything, but the market as a whole is not taking that as a serious situation,” said Konstantin Boehmer, head of fixed income and portfolio manager at Mackenzie Investments.
He said investors are counting on a potential resolution to come through soon though.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 20.60 points at 36,834.25, recovering from losses earlier in the day.
Boehmer said the Canadian dollar is another barometer to judge how concerned investors are.
“(The) Canadian dollar has barely moved and is in pretty much the same territory as lots of other similar currencies,” he said, pointing to the Australian and New Zealand dollars, which are closely related to the loonie.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.14 cents US compared with 72.07 cents US on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Canada’s big banks wrapped up their third-quarter earnings season this week. Boehmer said their capital markets divisions largely contributed to their profits.
However, he said elevated loan provisions could be a sign of worry for investors, which “needs to be paid attention to.”
Bank executives positioned the latest tariffs as manageable for the economy, even as they largely acknowledged the uncertain environment poses a headwind to consumers and certain sectors.
In the U.S., tech stocks led Wall Street higher after Nvidia posted larger profits than analysts expected.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 105.56 points at 53,569.44. The S&P 500 index was up 55.29 points at 7,730.99, while the Nasdaq composite was up 411.15 points at 26,541.35.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang said the chipmaker has reached its inflection point, and that the tokens are productive and profitable. That helped calm some of the worries that have built around AI stocks generally, which have been under pressure recently.
Boehmer suspects concerns of an AI bubble are alive and well, but people are going with the momentum.
“I would keep a close eye on it, pay attention to it, and pay attention to the momentum of it,” he said.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.30 at US$83.53 per barrel. The increase comes as another tanker attack was reported in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
Still, oil continues to pass through the crucial waterway, even though it’s well below prewar levels. Ship traffic through the strait increased last week compared to the prior week, with the number of oil and gas carriers up 50 per cent, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The December gold contract was up US$10.70 at US$4,664.00 an ounce.
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Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press
With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026.
