The Toronto Stock Exchange is at its highest level in six months as technology stocks rally on expectations for a slower pace of interest rate hikes moving forward.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index finished the December 1 trading day up 72.19 points, or 0.4%, at 20,525.45, its highest closing level since June 9 of this year.
Canada’s main stock exchange got a boost from technology shares, which continue to rally on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes in coming months.
Higher interest rates have been particularly damaging to technology stocks as they lower the value of future cash flows the companies are forecast to produce.
The Toronto market's technology sector gained 2.8% on December 1, while the materials group that includes precious metal miners and fertilizer companies rose 1.8%.
Canadian stocks also continue to be buoyed by strong commodity prices, with gold rising above $1,800 per ounce.
However, energy stocks have been a drag on the Toronto Stock Exchange in recent days, falling 1.2% collectively even as U.S. crude oil prices rose this week to more than $81 U.S. per barrel.
So far this year, the Toronto Stock Exchange is down 3%. That compares to a 15% year-to-date decline in the benchmark S&P 500 index in America.
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