Canadian and U.S. stock markets shoot higher at start of trading

Posted Apr 8, 2025 09:33:51 AM.
Last Updated Apr 8, 2025 11:44:20 AM.
Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. shot higher in early trading as they looked to regain some of the ground lost following U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last week.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 353.38 points at 23,212.84 shortly after markets opened.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1,070.81 points at 39,036.41.
The S&P 500 index was up 149.14 points at 5,211.39, while the Nasdaq composite was up 542.13 points at 16,145.39.
Stock markets had fallen after Trump announced plans for so-called reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world, prompting increased fears of a global recession.
The Canadian dollar traded for 70.56 cents U.S. compared with 70.29 cents U.S. on Monday.
The May crude oil contract was up 26 cents U.S. at US$60.96 per barrel, and the May natural gas contract was down four cents US at US$3.62 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was up US$46.10 at US$3,019.70 an ounce, and the May copper contract was up two cents US at US$4.20 a pound.
The biggest gain for the S&P 500 since World War II was an 11.6 per cent surge on Oct. 13, 2008. That was during the depths of the Great Recession, when worries were high that the financial system was collapsing and the S&P 500 was in the midst of a nearly 57 per cent plunge from its peak in late 2007 until its bottom in March 2009.
A couple of weeks later, the index had another one of its best days in history, soaring 10.8 per cent.