TSX on a roll while Dow, S&P500 and NASDAQ waiting on Jackson Hole

The Canadian Vanguard Stock Market Report – Thursday, August 21, 2025 Edition

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The Toronto Market

The TSX composite gained 176.67 points or 0.40%, to close the session at 28,055.43. The index gave a good show of strength today and finally, after weeks of eyeing the 28,000-point  level, convincingly crossed the level, and settling 55 points above it.

                                                                                                                             

The Market Breadth:  Nine of the ten sectors gained. The Basic Materials sector improved further on its performance on Wednesday, gaining 2.08%, and was the top sector again. The sector got some help from gold and silver miners’ stocks. Healthcare gained 1.05% and Energy gained 0.90%. Technology gained 0.51%, Telecommunications Services gained 0.49% and Durable Consumer Goods & Services gained 0.42%. Utilities gained 0.34%, and Financials gained 0.27%.  Discretionary Consumer Goods & Services declined -0.12% and ended the session as the only sector to decline today.

Industry Groups:  The top five industry groups in the TSX today were: Office Equipment, up 9.54%, for the third session running; Computer Hardware, up 6.09%; Chemicals Specialty, up 5.44%; Pharmaceuticals – Generic & Specialty, up 4.12%; and Construction Materials, up 3.72%.

Today’s Market Statistics

The issues that declined (Decliners) outnumbered those that gained (Advancers). There was roughly one Decliner for every Advancer, or a more exact ratio of 1.1-to-1.0. In real numbers, there were 976 Decliners to 889 Advancers while 149 stocks remained Unchanged.

Today, there were 165 new 52-Week Highs and 21 new 52-Week Lows. There were 162 new 52-Week Highs and 17 new 52-Week Lows yesterday.

The total volume of shares traded at the TSX today was 331,468,583, or 1% lower than the volume of 335,274,538 shares traded yesterday.

Market Roundup Report

The Toronto market was bullish today. The daily volume of shares traded at the TSX has remained steady in the last five sessions. TSX was up 0.63% and the market breadth was broad as nine of the ten sectors gained.  The index was outperforming the other North American indexes for a while, but the index then pulled back, took a break, and is now probably ready to start leading the charge again.

Our recommendations today remained the same as yesterday: Frank-Nevada Corp (FNV), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM). We’ll add Aritza Inc. (ATZ) to that list.  We will also recommend keeping an eye on Dollarama (DOL).

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The US Markets

The US markets are in the red. All three indexes settled -0.30% or lower, in the red as at the close of the session today. Dow Jones Industrial Average index, the top performer among the indexes, declined -152.81 points or -0.34%, to close the session at 44,785.50. The S&P 500 index declined -25.61 points or -0.40% and closed the session at 6,370.17. The Nasdaq Composite declined -72.54 points or -0.34%, and closed the session at 21,100.31.

In small caps, Russell 2000 declined 4.74 points or 0.21%, and closed the session at 2274.10. The Dow Jones index finally went decisively negative after a few sessions of modest, others might say paltry, gains.

The Market Breadth:  The US markets are getting more bearish as this week progresses. Only two of the major sectors gained. Energy gained 0.70% and Basic Materials gained 0.69%. Telecommunications Services declined 0.01%. Industrials declined -0.19%, Financials declined -0.25% and Technology declined -0.35%. Durable Consumer Goods & Services declined -0.66% and Discretionary Consumer Goods & Services declined -0.98%.

Industry Groups: The top five industry groups in the US markets today were: Paper Packaging, up 3.53%; Retail – Department Stores, up 2.60%; Precious Metals & Minerals, up 1.85%; Entertainment Production, up 1.74%; and Airport Services, up 1.19%.

Today’s Market Statistics:  At the NYSE, the issues that declined (Decliners) outnumbered the issues that gained (Advancers). There was one Decliner for every Advancer, or a more exact ratio of 1.02-to-1.0. In actual numbers, there were 2,552 Decliners to 1,629 Advancers with 367 Unchanged.

Today, there were 127 new 52-Week Highs and 46 new 52-Week Lows. There were 168 new 52-Week Highs and 62 new 52-Week Lows yesterday.

The total volume of stocks traded today at the NYSE was 4,110,801,203, 10% lower than the total volume of 4,554,953,266 shares traded yesterday.

On the NASDAQ, the Decliners for the third straight session outnumbered the Advancers. There were roughly six Decliners for every five Advancers, or an exact ratio of 1.18-to-1.0. In actual numbers, there were 2,506 Decliners to 2,078 Advancers with 268 Unchanged.

Today, there were 85 new 52-Week Highs and 117 new 52-Week Lows. There were 118 new 52-Week Highs and 108 new 52-Week Lows yesterday.

The total volume of shares traded at the NASDAQ today was 6,749,697,770, or 16% lower than the total volume of 8,057,833,807 shares traded yesterday.

Market Roundup Report

S&P 500 index has now declined in the last five sessions. Dow Jones index finally went decisively negative after sessions of very modest, others might say paltry, gains. Nasdaq has pulled back from the high of 21,804 touched on August 13. Yesterday, the volume of shares traded was 8% lower than the volume of shares traded on Tuesday. We are in a period where sellers have the edge, but the volumes of shares traded declined 8% at each of the last two market sessions. One can conclude as such that there is not much conviction behind the selling, given the volume decline, but the market, of course, will do what it wishes to do.

The Fed Chairman’s speech at Jackson Hole tomorrow is really worth waiting for. That is likely to be a market moving event, so it is a good idea to hold off on any heavy purchases until that speech is delivered. Patience is a major tool for risk management in stock market investing.

Oil Price: Oil prices rose about 1% to $63.10 a barrel on signs of strong demand. US Oil price was at $63.64 per barrel, as of the time (12:30 am ET, Friday) of this post update.

10 –year Treasury Yield:  US Treasury yield rose today, settling at 4.33%. The 10-year yield, down one basis point, was at 4.3375%, as of the time (12:30 am ET, Friday) of this post update.

Gold was up at $3,369.30 per troy ounce, while silver was down -0.22% at $38.00 per ounce as of the time of this post update.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is at $113,127.55, up 0.84% as of the time (12:30 am ET, Friday) of this post update.

After-hours action: Stock Futures are up slightly early this morning. Dow Futures is up 104.00 points or 0.24% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures is up 9.75 points or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 futures is up 24.75 points or 0.11% as of the time (12:30 am ET, Friday) of this post update.

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NOTICE TO READERS 

Our readers are strongly advised to conduct their research into individual stocks before making a purchase decision. In addition, investors are advised that past stock performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation. Any recommendation is not a guarantee of any particular stock’s future prices, and The Canadian Vanguard  accepts no responsibility or liability for investors’ or readers’ purchases.

The Canadian Vanguard’s Stock Market  Reports, https://www.thecanadianvanguard.com/category/stock-markets/ are composed by senior Financial Industry and Information Technology professionals. We deliberately neither engage nor deploy AI tools to produce these reports.

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