Canadian stocks posted incremental gains on Tuesday as investors refrained from big moves ahead of interest rate decisions by the central banks of Canada and the U.S. set to be announced tomorrow.
After opening a little lower than yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index remained volatile throughout the session before ending at 33,096.40, up by 3.08 points (or 0.01%).
Three of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the energy sector leading the pack.
The Bank of Canada is set to announce its interest rate decision tomorrow morning. Economists and various surveys predict that the central bank is likely to hold rates at the current 2.25% level.
In October 2025, the BoC had indicated that rates were at the right level and admitted that it does not have the tools to shield the economy from the impacts due to U.S. tariffs.
A recent survey of businesses and consumers by the BoC revealed that business sentiment of Canadian companies remained subdued amid tariff tensions, while consumers were worried about their jobs and debt repayments.
Data released by Statistics Canada today revealed that the preliminary numbers on wholesale sales showed an increase of 2.1% for December after declining by 1.8% a month earlier.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also slated to announce its monetary policy decision tomorrow afternoon.
After having executed three successive rate cuts in 2025, market participants expect the Fed to maintain the current interest range (3.50% to 3.75%) as the Fed requires time to analyze the aftereffects of tariffs on the domestic economy and labor market.
The U.S. Conference Board stated today that its consumer confidence index slumped by 9.7 points to 84.5 in January, which is lower than the Covid-19 levels.
Automatic Data Processing research data revealed that private U.S. employers added an average of 7,750 jobs per week in the four weeks ending January 3, little changed from an average gain of 8,000 in the previous period.
Stating that he cannot allow Canada to become a "drop-off port" for China to send goods and products into the U.S., U.S. President Donald on Saturday Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs if it signs a free trade deal with China.
This prompted Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney to clarify that his recent four-day trip to China was to reset the strains in Canada-China bilateral ties.
Canada is also stepping up efforts to finalize a visit by Carney to India by March. Both nations are signing bilateral trade agreements as a follow up to their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The CEPA aims to double bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.
Currently, India is subject to 50% U.S. tariffs and Canada faces 35% as a result of Trump's tariff war, which began soon after he assumed office for a second term last year.
Last week at the World Economic Forum, Carney called for the "middle powers" to unite against the "big powers," a comment which displeased Trump and resulted in a verbal spat between the two leaders.
Yesterday, Carney had a telephone conversation with Trump.
In an interview to Fox News, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Carney retracted his "unfortunate" comments.
Denying Bessent's contention, Carney claimed that he stressed to Trump that he meant what he said in Davos.
Carney also added that he informed Trump that he had made 12 new deals in four continents in six months which Trump had admired.
Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Energy (1.08%), Utilities (0.76%), and Materials (0.38%).
Among the individual stocks, Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (5.20%), Parex Resources Inc (5.13%), International Petroleum Corp (4.50%), Transalta Corp (6.36%), and Novagold Res Inc (11.45%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Consumer Discretionary (0.94%), Real Estate (1.18%), Healthcare (1.99%), and Consumer Staples (2.22%).
Among the individual stocks, Brp Inc (2.78%), Dollarama Inc (2.36%), Firstservice Corp (3.12%), and Altus Group Ltd (2.70%) were the notable losers.
Celestica Inc (7.05%) and Mda Ltd (6.46%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
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Market Analysis
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.