Canadian Stocks Advance Amid Strong Gains By Mining Stocks

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks moved higher on Monday, driven by an upswing in metal prices that aided mining stocks that took the market to new highs.

After opening a little above the previous week's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded firmly positive throughout the session before settling at 32,000.10, up by 244.33 points (or 0.77%).

Eight of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the materials sector leading the pack.

Gold consolidated after a sharp increase mainly due to heightening geopolitical tensions.

Today, Front Month Comex Gold for December delivery rose sharply by $83.20 (or 1.91%) to $4,444.60 per troy ounce. Notably, this is a new record high for gold prices.

The U.S.-Venezuela conflict escalated further with the U.S. military moving to seize a third "sanctioned oil tanker" off the Venezuelan coast. After U.S. President Donald Trump announced a "total naval blockade" on vessels entering and exiting Venezuela on December 16, the U.S. already intercepted two big vessels.

China, a major importer of Venezuelan oil has strongly condemned U.S. actions.

In its efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, after hectic negotiations between the U.S. officials and their Ukrainian counterparts, both sides jointly announced that the talks were "productive and constructive" though no breakthrough news emerged from the meeting.

The standoff continues as Russia and Ukraine are unwilling to concur on territorial concessions.

In the U.S., the outlook for interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve have gone up despite the U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioning investors not to take rate cuts for granted.

In Canada, data released by Statistics Canada today revealed that industrial producer prices rose 0.9% month-over-month in November, recording the sixth consecutive monthly increase. On an year-on-year basis, prices increased 6.1%.

More than 75% of Canada's exports have been going to the U.S. A substantial volume of exports that comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico trade pact (a free-trade agreement) bypass the 35% U.S. tariffs imposed by Trump that took effect from August 1.

Last week, the office of the prime minister announced that Canada and the U.S. will commence formal discussions to review the free-trade agreement between Canada and the United States.

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halted all trade talks with Canada and so far, has not showed any sign of loosening his stance.

With U.S.-Canada bilateral trade talks suspended, economists are now focused on how Carney's administration maneuvers in successfully convincing the U.S. to renew the CUSMA agreement favoring both the nations.

Of note, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been voted "The Canadian Press 2025 Newsmaker of the Year" after several respondents in a related survey described him both as a "diplomat" and a "political outsider."

Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Materials (2.44%), Energy (0.93%), Industrials (0.82%), Consumer Staples (0.45%), and Financials (0.35%).

Among the individual stocks, Discovery Silver Corp (7.98%), Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (6.26%), Lundin Gold Inc (5.95%), Alamas Gold Inc (5.05%), and Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (2.10%) were the prominent gainers.

Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Real Estate (0.19%), Consumer Discretionary (0.22%), and Healthcare (1.72%).

Among the individual stocks, Curaleaf Holdings Inc (7.49%), Magna International Inc (2.03%), Firstservice Corp (1.60%), and CDN Apartment Un (1.16%) were the notable losers.