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Canada’s main stock market went up slightly on Tuesday. Investors are focusing on company earnings, upcoming economic reports, and decisions from central banks.
By midday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 44 points, or 0.13%, at 27,449.44. A smaller index, the S&P/TSX 60 futures, rose just a tiny bit—1 point or 0.03%.
A trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union over the weekend helped calm some worries about tariffs. Because of this, gold prices dropped for a while, which hurt shares of mining companies.
However, trade talks between Canada and the U.S. are still not settled. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the talks are now in a serious phase. The results of these talks could impact the next decision from the Bank of Canada, which is meeting on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected to announce its policy on the same day.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were also slightly up. The Dow Jones was up 12 points, the S&P 500 gained 10 points, and the NASDAQ rose by 90 points. The S&P 500 had just reached a new record high the day before.
The U.S.-EU trade deal is part of several agreements the U.S. is trying to finish before August 1, when higher tariffs are set to begin for many countries. Analysts say the U.S. is still working on deals with Asia (like South Korea, Taiwan, and India) and possibly new updates for Mexico and Canada.
At the same time, the U.S. and China restarted trade talks on Tuesday in Sweden. China has a deadline of August 12 to make a longer-lasting deal with the U.S. This could prevent new tariffs and keep trade flowing between the two countries.
The Federal Reserve also began a two-day meeting on Tuesday. It is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.5%, but investors are listening closely for signs of possible rate cuts later this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said the Fed will wait and watch for now. Still, some members of the Fed want to cut rates soon. President Donald Trump again asked the Fed to lower rates to help the economy.
Other big financial events are coming this week. Investors will watch the PCE inflation report on Thursday, which is the Fed’s preferred way to measure price changes. They’re also looking out for job reports like job openings, payroll data, jobless claims, and the July jobs report on Friday.
It’s also the busiest week of the earnings season in the U.S. More than 150 companies in the S&P 500 will report results. Big tech companies like Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon are all set to announce earnings this week.
In commodities, gold prices rose slightly on Tuesday after falling for four days in a row. Gold had gone down earlier as trade tensions eased and investors felt less need to buy safe assets. As of Tuesday morning, spot gold was up 0.3%, and gold futures were up 0.4%.
Oil prices also went up. Brent crude rose 0.2% to $69.49 a barrel, and U.S. crude increased to $66.82 a barrel. On Monday, oil prices had already jumped over 2% after the U.S.-EU deal helped calm fears of a major trade war. The agreement also includes plans for the EU to buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy in the future.