TORONTO — Canada's main stock index struggled to find direction and finished flat on Thursday, while U.S. markets reached new highs and investors digested key earnings reports on both sides of the border.
“I think investors should welcome a boring market at all-time highs,” said Stephen Duench, portfolio manager for AGF Investments Inc.
He noted Thursday’s trading session marked a milestone for markets moving past some key earnings reports.
“There's nothing that's more important than Canadian bank earnings in Canada. There's nothing more important than Nvidia earnings in the U.S. … So we've survived this very important period,” Duench said.
“I think a boring market in the coming days would be something that is quite welcome for investors, because we've gone through what could have been a more volatile period.”
He said earnings from tech giant Nvidia reported after the bell Wednesday were positive overall.
Nvidia fell 0.8 per cent a day after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street analysts’ forecasts, though the company noted that sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than anticipated.
Investors consider Nvidia a barometer for the strength of the boom in artificial intelligence because the company makes most of the chips that power the technology. Its heavy weighting also gives Nvidia outsized influence as a bellwether for the broader market.
Duench said there were some fears among investors after the stock traded down following its results on Wednesday evening.
“I think the expectation was people were a bit worried because it had such high expectations in their earnings,” he said.
He added that Nvidia trading flat is “a relief,” as a five to 10 per cent drop driven by an earnings miss or tariff commentary could drag down the overall market.
“This is kind of the canary-in-the-coal-mine stock. That really could spook a lot of people and it didn't do that.”
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 1.80 points at 28,434.80.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 71.67 points at 45,636.90. The S&P 500 index was up 20.46 points at 6,501.86, while the Nasdaq composite was up 115.02 points at 21,705.16.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent, lifting the benchmark index to its second record high in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed an early slide and gained 0.2 per cent, enough to move past its record high set last Friday. The Nasdaq composite closed 0.5 per cent higher, finishing just short of its all-time high set two weeks ago.
On Thursday, TD Bank Group and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported third-quarter earnings after their peer lenders posted results earlier in the week.
“I've rarely seen such robust earnings across the Canadian banks. The stocks have done very well in recent months. There might have been a level of higher expectations, and they did exceed them simply,” Duench said.
“The banks showed that there wasn't a huge concern on credit losses. That was something that people were concerned about going into this quarter, given tariffs, given the Canadian economy.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.70 cents US compared with 72.35 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up 45 cents US at US$64.60 per barrel. The December gold contract was up US$25.70 at US$3,474.3 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD, TSX: TD, TSX: CM)
Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press
