Canada's main equity index began 2026 on a positive note on Friday, supported by rebounding technology stocks, even as mining-linked shares declined in thin trading despite a recovery in precious metal prices.
The TSX rocketed 170.61 points to finish the day and a short week at 31,883.37.
The Canadian dollar let go of 0.08 cents to 72.82 cents U.S.
The Canadian benchmark sustained its worst weekly performance since mid-November. The index has fallen for four straight sessions and is down 0.6% this week.
However, the resource-heavy TSX ended 2025 with its best annual performance since 2009, closing almost 29% higher and beating major U.S. stock indexes.
The materials sub-index doubled in value over the previous year, while the heavyweight financial sector provided additional support following robust earnings reports from Canada's "Big Six" banks.
In notable share moves, Capstone Copper fell 21 cents, or 1.5%, to $13.57, after the miner said a union representing about half its workers at the Mantoverde copper and gold mine in Chile would launch a strike on Friday.
Denison Mines shares jumped 50 cents, or 13.7%, to $4.14, after the uranium miner reported readiness to launch its flagship Phoenix ISR project.
Health-care led the parade, as a subgroup, headed by Curaleaf, charging ahead 17 cents, or 5%, to $3.58, while Bausch Health Companies gained 39 cents, or 4.1%, to $9.92.
Among energy plays, Cenovus captured 83 cents, or 3.6%, to $24.05, while Enerflex progressed 69 cents, or 3.3%, to $21.85.
In the industrial sector, MDA Corp. picked up 99 cents, or 3.7%, to $27.63, while NFI Inc. strengthened 58 cents, or 3.7%, to $16.10.
Tech stocks shrank, however, as Dye & Durham lost 47 cents, or 10.1%, to $4.17, while Descartes Group dipped $3.45, or 2.9%, to $116.96.
Miners had their troubles, too, as GMining slumped $3.32, or 8%, to $38.17, while Endeavour Silver forfeited 50 cents, or 3.9%, to $12.41.
In gold stocks, Wesdome Gold gave back $1.02, or 4.5%, to $21.72, while Iamgold surrendered 41 cents, or 1.8%, to $22.04.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gathered 5.17 points to 992.91 Friday.
Seven of the 12 subgroups were positive by the final bell, led by energy, up 1.7%, health-care, improving 1.5%, and industrials, ahead 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by information technology, sliding 1.3%, gold, down 0.5%, and materials, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 seesawed on Friday, the first trading day of 2026, as gains in semiconductor names tried keep the index afloat.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 319.10 points to finish Friday at 48,382.39
The broader index claimed 12.97 points to 6,858.47.
The NASDAQ hesitated 6.36 points to 23,235.63.
Key chip stocks such as Nvidia and Micron Technology climbed in the session. The former rose more than 1%, and the latter popped
approximately 10%. Both artificial intelligence-related names were big winners in 2025 — Nvidia jumped about 39%, while Micron surged more than 240%.
But other areas in tech outside of chips suffered some losses. Notably, software stocks came under pressure, as Salesforce dropped 3% and CrowdStrike declined 4%. Palantir Technologies and Microsoft pulled back as well.
Additionally, Tesla shares were more than 2% lower after the company’s fourth-quarter deliveries missed analyst estimates.
Friday’s session had some bright spots elsewhere in the broader market. Shares of Wayfair jumped more than 8%, while RH increased roughly 6% after President Donald Trump on New Year’s Eve postponed tariff increases on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year.
Wall Street strategists expect more gains for the U.S. stock market in 2026. The CNBC Market Strategist Survey shows the average S&P 500 target for the year is 7,629, which implies upside of 11.4%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped to hoist yields to 4.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 15 cents to $57.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost 80 cents to $4,430.30
