The Toronto Stock Exchange rose on Thursday, led by gains in healthcare, industrial and energy shares, as investors weighed weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data, developments in North American trade and the outlook for interest rates.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 109.68 points, or 0.3%, to 34,966.67, with mixed sectors.
Health Care led gainers, up 1.30%, with Battery Metals Index, Industrials, Information and Technology, and Energy, up 1.15%, 0.36%, 0.41%, and 0.52%, respectively. Base Metals led decliners, down 1.80%, while Financial, down 0.53%, Utilities, down 0.19%, and Telecom, down 1.66%.
In commodities, gold moved higher on Thursday as the U.S. dollar fell sharply after U.S. hiring slowed more than expected in June. The yellow metal for August delivery was last seen up 1.1% to $4,127.80 per ounce.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the economy added just 57,000 jobs last month, down from 129,000 in May and well below expectations for an increase of 115,000, according to MarketWatch.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil edged higher on Thursday, even as supply concerns continue to ease with tankers stranded in the Persian Gulf since the start of the Iran war resuming transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
WTI crude oil for August delivery closed up 0.2% to settle at $68.69 per barrel, while September Brent oil was last seen up 0.2% to $71.68. The rise comes even as ships continued to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, easing supply disruptions caused by the conflict.
Investors also assessed the outlook for Canada-U.S. trade relations after Washington formally declined to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) in its current form, a move economists said was widely anticipated and unlikely to disrupt trade in the near term.
The July 1st deadline to extend the CUSMA agreement for another 16 years slipped by this week, with the U.S. declining to extend, but that outcome was communicated well in advance by all three parties, TD Economics wrote in a note.
It is business as usual for now, with most of Canada's exports to the U.S. tariff-free, though onerous tariffs are continuing on steel, aluminum and autos. Uncertainty will also persist as the three parties will now engage in annual reviews, TD economist Rishi Sondhi said.
"We have tentative evidence that the worst of the trade conflict may be in the rearview. For instance, manufacturing GDP has risen in two of the last three months through April, and may have increased again in May given a pick up in hiring," he added.
The U.S. did not agree to renew the CUSMA deal in its current form, U.S. trade representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Wednesday. However, Greer said that the U.S. will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the agreement's shortcomings and its trade deficits with these countries.
As previously announced, the U.S. will meet with Mexico the week of July 20 for a third round of bilateral negotiations related to the CUSMA joint review.
Rosenberg Research, in its note published on Thursday, said the Canadian Dollar has improved a touch to below the C$1.42 mark but surely will not benefit from the news that the White House has declined to renew the North American trade pact, at least not in its current form (the trade agreement remains in effect, but the move not to extend means that U.S. trade representatives will have to meet every year for a decade with Mexican and Canadian officials to review the deal ... and give the administration leverage to make changes it sees fit, and one of many issues is the protectionist supply management scheme in Canada's farming sector).
Additionally, TD said Canada's economy is now on track to grow at above 2% annualized in the second quarter, when StatsCan's GDP guidance for May is included, which is above what the Bank of Canada had forecast in its April projection.
"Even still, it doesn't materially change our view on rates. Remember that the bounce back in GDP comes of heels of several quarters of soft activity, meaning that the economy is still likely in excess supply," Sondhi said.
In the housing market, fresh data pointed to softer conditions in one of Canada's largest real estate markets.
Home sales in Calgary declined in June from a year earlier as home prices also edged lower, reflecting softer housing demand, reported The Canadian Press.
The Calgary Real Estate Board said 2,197 homes were sold during the month, down 3.8% from June 2025, while the residential benchmark price fell 2.1% year over year to C$572,500. The board's chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie attributed the slowdown to weaker population growth, saying lower migration has reduced demand for both higher-density housing and rental properties.