Equities Ease as Participants Position Ahead of Wednesday’s Fed Policy Announcement
The Canadian Vanguard Stock Market Report – Monday December 8, 2025 Edition. . 
The Toronto Market
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 141.44 points, or 0.45%, closing at 31,169.97. The TSX declined by nearly half a percent today, in line with the broader downturn across major North American market indexes. This marks the second consecutive session of losses for the TSX—an uncommon trend since early summer, when rising gold prices, driven by tariff concerns and broader market uncertainties, had helped support the index. Basic Materials and Resource sectors remain the primary drivers of strength in the Toronto market.
The Market’s Statistics
On the TSX, declining issues significantly outnumbered advancing ones by nearly two to one. There were 1,328 decliners and 708 advancers, resulting in a decliner-to-advancer ratio of 1.87 to 1, with 164 issues unchanged.
The market recorded 100 new 52-week highs and 28 new 52-week lows, compared with 187 new highs and 15 new lows posted on Friday.
Total trading volume on the TSX reached 464,549,764 shares, an increase of 9% from the 424,233,000 shares traded on Friday.
Toronto Market Wrap-Up Report
Market breadth on the TSX skewed sharply negative, with decliners outpacing advancers by nearly two to one. A total of 1,328 issues declined, compared with 708 advancers, resulting in a breadth ratio of 1.87:1 and signaling broad-based selling pressure. There were indications that some investors were actively repositioning amid the market-wide pullback.
The session proved challenging, as only two of the ten major sectors—Industrials (+0.32%) and Financials (+0.08%)—posted gains, and even those advances were modest. Technology, Telecommunications Services, and Basic Materials were the weakest performers, with Basic Materials leading the downside.
One bright spot was the continued strength in Financials. Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX: TD) were among the five North American banks that registered new 52-week highs today, according to signals from our performance-tracking system.
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The US Markets
U.S. equities finished the session broadly lower, with all major indexes posting declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 215.67 points (-0.45%) to close at 47,739.32. The S&P 500 slipped 23.89 points (-0.35%), ending the day at 6,846.51, while the Nasdaq Composite eased 32.22 points (-0.14%) to finish at 23,545.90.
The Russell 2000 was virtually unchanged, dipping only 0.50 points (-0.02%) to close at 2,520.98, making the small-cap benchmark the relative outperformer as the market continued its recent pattern of rotating between small-caps and the large-cap names concentrated in the Dow.
Both the Dow and the Russell opened in negative territory. The Dow traded lower throughout the session, with a brief, unsuccessful attempt in the final hour to recoup losses. Small caps fared comparatively better, maintaining a tight trading range and giving up little ground overall.
Today’s US Market Statistics
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Declining issues (Decliners) outnumbered Advancing issues (Advancers). Specifically, there were 2,868 decliners, 1,407 advancers, and 391 issues unchanged, producing a decliner-to-advancer ratio of 2.03 to 1, two decliners for every advancer.
The exchange recorded 167 new 52-week highs and 68 new 52-week lows, compared with 134 new highs and 33 new lows recorded on Friday.
Total NYSE trading volume reached 4,886,191,167 shares, down 3% from 5,026,442,432 shares traded on Friday.
NASDAQ: At the NASDAQ, declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks resulting in approximately six decliners for every five advancers. There were 2,672 decliners and 2,092 advancers, yielding a decliner-to-advancer ratio of 1.28 to 1, with 304 issues unchanged.
The exchange posted 202 new 52-week highs and 101 new 52-week lows, compared with 232 new highs and 67 new lows on Friday.
Total NASDAQ trading volume amounted to 8,777,237,113 shares, 4% higher than Friday’s 8,439,255,139 shares.
U.S. Market Wrap-Up Report
U.S. equities traded lower across the board, reversing Friday’s broad-based gains. All major indexes posted declines, reflecting a modest deterioration in risk sentiment ahead of key macro catalysts later in the week.
Sector Performance
Sector dispersion was limited, with weakness evident across most groups. Information Technology (+0.30%) was the sole sector to finish in positive territory, supported by selective strength in large-cap financial technology names and software. Financials (-0.26%) ranked second in relative performance despite ending the session in negative territory.
Conversely, Utilities and Telecommunications Services were the laggards. The underperformance of these traditionally defensive sectors indicated an absence of rotation into classic safety trades, suggesting that the day’s pullback was not accompanied by a shift toward a high-risk-aversion posture.
Notable Large-Cap Movers
Within Financials, Goldman Sachs (GS) outperformed meaningfully, gaining 1.45% to close at $866.91 on 2.2M shares. Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup (C) both registered new 52-week intraday highs—MS at $177.32 and C at $109.37—before closing below those levels. Despite the intraday reversals, the technical momentum in these names remains constructive and warrants continued monitoring should market breadth stabilize or improve.
High-Conviction Movers / Growth Names
Among notable upside movers, Carvana (CVNA) advanced 12.06% to finish at $447.98, extending its multi-session relative strength trend. Astera Labs (ALAB) gained 9%, closing at $175.74, driven by persistent institutional interest in high-growth semiconductor and connectivity names.
Overall, the session reflected mild de-risking rather than a pronounced shift in market positioning. Signals from both sector leadership and the highs–lows profile point to consolidation rather than a deterioration in broader market structure.
Commodities and Bonds
Oil Price: Crude Oil price was down today more than 2%. Crude Oil was at $58.82 per barrel, as of the time (11:30 pm EDT, Monday) of this post update.
Gold price was down -$8.80, or -0.21%, at $4,208.80 per troy ounce, while silver price was down marginally -$0.05, or -0.06%, at $58.36 per ounce as of the time of this post update.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) reversed its rebound and was trading down – $206.63 or -0.16% at $90,437.63 as of the time of this post update.
10 –year Treasury Yield: The 10-year yield is at 4.172%, as of the time (11:30 pm EDT, Thursday) of this post update.
After-hours action: Stock Futures are up little changed Monday evening. Dow Futures is up 21.00 points or 0.04% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures is up 6.75 points or 0.20% at 6,862.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures is up 21.50 points or 0.08% at 25,684.25 as of the time (11:30pm EDT, Monday) of this post update.
Note: The markets’ performance during the regular market session often bear little or no semblance to the futures readings the previous evening. Please use as data applicable at the time of capture only.
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(c) This article is published by The Canadian Vanguard on December 8, 2025
