Canada’s stock market only managed to move up slightly today, despite a fresh North American trade agreement that will supplant NAFTA.
Canada and the U.S. struck a tentative, 11th hour deal on Sunday, replacing NAFTA with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA for short.
The new accord supercharged the loonie which soared to a four-month high before ending the day 53/100ths of a cent stronger at $0.7803 US.
And with Trump’s threat of auto tariffs eliminated, shares in Canadian automakers surged, including Canada’s largest auto dealer Magna International Inc. which rose 2.2 percent.
Gains in Canada’s stock exchange were tempered by losses in six of 11 sectors, including the influential financials sector which slipped 0.2 percent as the TSX moved 31 points into the green.
In New York, easing cross-border trade tensions helped the Dow move 192 points higher led by jumps in Boeing, Apple, and Chevron.
The Nasdaq was flat, down nine points with increases in Amazon and Alphabet stocks offset by drops in Intel and Facebook, which lost value on news of a security flaw in the accounts of 50 million users.
Supply concerns had oil prices hitting a four-year high with American sanctions on Iran taking effect on Nov. 4, as oil rose $2.42 to $75.67 US a barrel.
Gold lost $3.00 with the yellow metal falling to $1,190 an ounce.
Meanwhile, Tesla rallied in a big way, erasing Friday’s losses by moving 17.3 percent after its founder Elon Musk agreed to step down as chairman of the electric carmaker, in a fraud settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
