Shopify Pushes Canada Stocks Gauge to Record, Shy of 25,000

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s stocks benchmark closed at a fresh record Tuesday thanks to gains in the country’s largest tech stock, but narrowly missed a key psychological threshold of 25,000 points.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained as much as 1% to briefly hit a new high of 25,024.93 before paring gains. The benchmark closed 0.5% higher and hit its 36th record high for the year, led by the tech sector, which had its best day since March 2020.

Sharp gains in Shopify Inc. helped tip the index over the key threshold after the Canadian tech darling’s third-quarter’s revenue came in ahead of analyst expectations. Shares in the e-commerce firm ended the day 21% higher for its best day since May 2023.

Financials also staged a rebound after a sluggish 2023 and are expected to continue performing well under a Donald Trump presidency, with anticipated tax cuts and easing regulations.

“I think this is a big psychological lift for the Canadian market,” said SIA Wealth Management portfolio manager and chief market strategist Colin Cieszynski of the index crossing 25,000 points. He attributed the recent rally to the sharp gains in both banks and in Shopify.

Financial and tech stocks make up a collective 43% of the S&P/TSX Composite.

The benchmark started this year just below 21,000 points and has since grown by 19% year-to-date, ending a holding pattern last year when Canadian stocks were weighed by higher interest rates and struggled to gain traction.

It traded above the 23,000-point mark for the first time in July, driven by Bank of Canada rate cuts. And just two months later, the index closed above 24,000 as mining stocks rallied with commodity prices.

(Updates with closing share moves in the first three paragraphs.)