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Despite ongoing trade tensions and a weakening economy, Canada’s main stocks benchmark outshone its US counterpart in the first half thanks to a record-breaking gold rally.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 8.6% for the year to June 30, higher than the S&P 500’s 5.5% advance over the same period. In US-dollar terms, the Toronto index was up 15%, mirroring the gains of other gold-heavy world indexes.
“No doubt that it’s been driven by gold,” said Sadiq Adatia, chief investment officer at BMO Asset Management Inc. Investors rushed into gold and precious metals miners to hedge some of the risks caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats as well as geopolitical tensions and conflicts in the Middle East. That rush benefited the Toronto stocks gauge.
“You need to have things that can bulletproof your portfolio, and gold is the one that does that the best,” Adatia…
