-- The resources heavy Toronto Stock Exchange was back up again Friday, especially buoyed by Base Metals, even with most other sectors lower and with the likes of BMO's Douglas Porter warning about the health of the Canadian economy and seeing "few obvious grounds for optimism" on the trade front.
Today the TSX was up 221.14 points or 0.65% at 34,077.76, with Base Metals up near 3.2% and Energy up a modest 0.1%. No sector declined by as much as 1%.
One of the big backdrops to the trading day was that Canada lost jobs in April while U.S. hiring beat forecasts. This comes as the two nations near the resumption of stalled trade talks and as the vast majority of Canadians, eight out of 10, still believe boycotting American goods and travel to the U.S. is helpful in strengthening Canada's bargaining position, according to a new survey by Nanos for CTV News.
BMO's Douglas Porter in his regular weekly 'Talking Points' column said Canada has "sounded a series of flat notes" so far in 2026, adding the bottom line is the economy is "struggling to even get to first base" on the growth front.
Porter noted the Canadian economy lost 17,700 jobs last month, the third drop in four months. "Discouragingly", he said, full-time positions have been especially weak, dragging hours worked down so far this year. Porter added BMO would never over react to any single jobs result, while noting the weakness does follow some surprising strength late last year, but the reality is that employment is up just 0.3% y/y. And even with the big slowdown in underlying population, some slack appears to be building in the job market. True, Porter said, the unemployment rate at 6.9% is back to precisely where it stood a year ago, but that is on the soft side -- particularly for those aged 15-24, as the youth rate jumped to 14.3%.
Meantime, Porter noted, early readings on housing activity in April showed only "faintest hints of a thaw", with prices still drifting lower in a variety of major markets. And, he also noted, there is the reality that the deep uncertainty of the USMCA review lingers, with few obvious grounds for optimism on that front. Porter added: "The ongoing uncertainty continues to weigh heavily across manufacturing, but especially so in the domestic auto sector. This week brought news that the massive Honda investment in a new EV plant, heralded with much fanfare just two short years ago, has officially been put on ice. While many were quick to blame waning EV demand, and not the trade war, it's quite clear that the wall of U.S. auto tariffs played a role in the decision. Unless and until the trade backdrop clears, we continue to assert that it seems quite misguided to be considering even one rate hike, let alone "consecutive" moves."
Of commodities, gold settled up 0.4% Friday, and silver rose 0.9%, with both metals up for a fourth-consecutive session and posting gains for the week, The Wall Street Journal reported.
But oil futures ended the week with losses as a U.S. proposal keeps hopes alive for an end to the war with Iran and eventual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, The WSJ also reported.