Investing.com -- Canada’s main stock exchange finished higher on Monday, mirroring similar gains on Wall Street, as investors assessed a tech-related pause to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
By the 4:00 ET close, the S&P/TSX 60 index had climbed by 15.5 points, or 1.1%.
Toronto Stock Exchange ’s S&P/TSX composite index rose by 278.7 points or 1.2%, after gaining 572.93 points, or 2.5%, in the prior session. The average notched a weekly gain despite a bout of heavy volatility that at one point saw it slump to almost an eight-month low.
A jump in copper and gold prices helped support shares of metal miners and fertilizer companies, while an uptick in oil prices fueled a rally in energy prices. All 10 of the major sectors rose, although real estate names were weighed down by an increase in Canadian long-term borrowing costs that stemmed from a sell-off in U.S. government debt.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, with analysts expecting the Bank of Canada to slash interest rates at an upcoming meeting this week.
The loonie touched its strongest intraday level versus the greenback since November last week.
U.S. stocks close with gains
U.S. stock indexes rose Monday as investors cheered the exclusion of some electronics from Trump’s steep reciprocal trade tariffs, although Trump still warned of more levies on the sector.
At the 4:00 ET close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 312.1 points, or 0.8%, the S&P 500 climbed 42.6 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 107 points, or 0.6%.
Stocks rose after a positive session on Wall Street on Friday, capping off a week that featured back-and-forth announcements around Trump’s tariff policies that caused stocks to whipsaw between sharp losses and steep advances.
A bond market sell-off that flashed warning signs around the traditional safe-haven status of U.S. Treasuries also spooked investors.
This positive sentiment continued Monday after the White House exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from Trump’s punishing duties.
Trump did say that this was only temporary, and suggested that he would unveil a tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week.
Still, the exclusion of electronics from Trump’s 145% tariffs on China in particular granted some reprieve to tech majors with heavy exposure to the country, specifically Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA ).
The White House said the exclusions were aimed at giving companies more time to shift production to the United States.
Goldman heads earnings slate
There are more corporate quarterly earnings due this week, starting with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ).
Goldman Sachs reported first-quarter net revenue that beat expectations as tariff-related market volatility underpinned all-time high top-line returns at its equities division, although CEO David Solomon said the bank was entering the current quarter facing a "markedly different" operating environment. Goldman stock finished up 1.9% on the day.
A number of its peers on Wall Street, including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS ), reported strong earnings on Friday, but also flagged that Trump’s tariffs could dent earnings and depress dealmaking.
Additionally, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ), Bank of America, Citigroup (NYSE: C ), and United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL ) are all set to report on Tuesday.
Crude mixed
Oil prices were mixed Monday, following recent losses that were driven by concerns that the trade spat between the United States and China -- the two largest economies in the world -- would weaken global economic growth and crimp fuel demand.
As of 5:50 ET, Brent gained 0.1% to $64.83 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined by 0.1% to $61.53 per barrel.
Both contracts have lost roughly $10 a barrel since the start of the month.
Gold prices slip amid some U.S. tariff relief
Gold prices fell from a record high on Monday as risk appetite improved marginally, although sentiment still remained largely on edge.
Weakness in the dollar and Treasury prices also kept gold relatively underpinned and trading above $3,200 an ounce, as did some comments on monetary easing from the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold fell 0.8% to $3,210.74 per ounce, while gold futures expiring in June were flat, pricing in at $3,226.30/oz by 5:50 ET.
(Scott Kanowsky also contributed to this article)