Canada’s primary equity gauge was forecast to recover on Friday following a sharp pullback the day before, buoyed by gains on Wall Street that provided a firmer tone heading into the session.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended Thursday down 1.8%, or 576 points, at 31,994.60. Decliners outpaced advancers by 708 to 275, while 72 issues finished unchanged. Despite Thursday’s drop, the index remained on track to record modest weekly gains of about 0.2%.
Tech sector remains center stage
Equity market focus has been concentrated on the technology sector after a week-long selloff, as investors parsed results and guidance from major technology companies. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the latest large tech company to post quarterly results after the U.S. market close on Thursday.
In its report, the online retail and cloud services giant signalled a substantial increase in AI-related spending. The company said it will direct $200 billion into augmenting its artificial-intelligence infrastructure in 2026, and noted a capital expenditure plan representing a more than 50% increase in spending this year.
Amazon’s disclosures add to evidence that the biggest cloud and internet platforms have no immediate plans to curtail heavy AI investment. The four largest hyperscalers - Amazon, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Goodle (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) - are expected to deploy combined spending in excess of $630 billion this year.
Domestic employment report in focus
Back in Canada, investors awaited the release of January unemployment figures later in the trading session. The unemployment rate was forecast to remain at 6.8%.
Monetary policy considerations remain relevant: the Bank of Canada kept its policy rate at 2.25% at its most recent meeting at the end of January, as the Canadian economy continues to expand at a modest but positive pace.
Precious metals and energy remain volatile
Gold and silver staged a reversal to trade higher on Friday after a volatile week that produced sharp losses. Bargain buying helped push prices up, although silver was still set to be the clear underperformer, on track to lose about 14% over the week after largely erasing a prior recovery.
Gold’s weekly decline was smaller, but bullion was trading roughly $800 an ounce below the record highs seen the prior week.
Oil also moved higher on Friday, though both major contracts were headed for their first weekly declines in almost two months. Brent futures rose 0.2% to $67.65 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased 0.1% to $63.36 a barrel.
Despite the intraday gains, Brent was positioned to finish the week down about 3.3%, and WTI faced a weekly loss near 1.8%.
Market attention was pointed toward scheduled talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Oman later in the day amid elevated military tensions in the Middle East. Traders hoped discussions between Tehran and Washington might reduce the risk of broader conflict, a development that had already appeared to trim some of the risk premium in crude prices during the week.
Investment services note
Separately, an investment product promotion highlighted that AI-driven stock selection tools have been influential this year, citing performance metrics for a range of global portfolios and a flagship technology-focused strategy.
Outlook
The combination of U.S. tech earnings and spending plans, a domestic employment print, and continued swings in commodities suggests investors will weigh growth-related news alongside geopolitical developments in the near term. Friday’s session was expected to provide clarification on some near-term market drivers as market participants digested earnings updates and awaited Canadian labour market data.