Dow Closes in the Red, Small Caps Slide on December Rate-Cut Doubts
The Canadian Vanguard Stock Market Report – Wednesday, October 29, 2025 Edition
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The Toronto Market
The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 274.90 points, or 0.90%, to close at 30,144.78. The benchmark retreated alongside other major North American indices after early gains failed to hold. The decline marks the second loss in the past three sessions, with today’s nearly one percent drop representing a notably sharp pullback.
Today’s Market Statistics: The issues that declined (Decliners) outnumbered those that gained (Advancers). There was one Decliner for every Advancer. In actual numbers, there were 1,079 Decliners to 989 Advancers, an exact Decliners to Advancers ratio of 1.09-to-1.0, while 167 stocks remained Unchanged.
There were 427 new 52-Week highs and 24 new 52-Week lows, compared with 467 new 52-Week highs and 23 new 52-Week lows recorded yesterday.
The total volume of shares traded at the TSX today was 416,021,815, down six percent from 442,144,307 shares traded yesterday.
Market Wrap-Up Report
Sector Performance:
Basic Materials was the only sector to post gains on the TSX today. Technology declined 1.95%, despite Celestica Inc. (CLS) climbing 3.96% following strong earnings on Tuesday. Some analysts note that while Celestica is a Canadian-listed company, its operations are heavily U.S.-based.
Market Sentiment:
Wednesday’s session was dominated by bearish sentiment, reflecting cautious investor behavior.
Notable Stocks to Watch:
Stocks worth keeping an eye on include Finning International Inc. (FTT), Lunding Mining Inc. (LUN), and Atkinsrealis Group Inc. (ATRL). All are priced above $15 per share, consistent with The Canadian Vanguard’s focus on avoiding penny stocks.
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The US Markets
Major U.S. equity indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.37 points, or 0.16%, to finish at 47,632.00. The S&P 500 edged down 0.30 points, effectively unchanged, to close at 6,890.59. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 130.98 points, or 0.55%, to end at 23,958.47. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 Index declined 21.85 points, or 0.87%, to settle at 2,484.81. Small-cap stocks have now lagged the broader market for two consecutive sessions.
Today’s Market Statistics
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Declining issues outnumbered advancing issues by roughly two to one. Specifically, there were 2,961 decliners and 1,370 advancers, producing a decliner-to-advancer ratio of 2.16 to 1, with 316 issues unchanged.
The exchange recorded 476 new 52-week highs and 170 new 52-week lows, compared with 613 new highs and 102 new lows in the previous session.
Total NYSE trading volume reached 6,437,200,377 shares, about 11% higher than yesterday’s 5,778,405,635 shares.
NASDAQ: At the NASDAQ, declining stocks also outpaced advancers by approximately two to one. There were 3,306 decliners versus 1,453 advancers, yielding a decliner-to-advancer ratio of 2.27 to 1, with 252 issues unchanged.
The exchange posted 332 new 52-week highs and 180 new 52-week lows, compared with 344 new highs and 113 new lows in the prior session. The sharp increase in new lows—from 113 to 180—suggests a bearish shift in market sentiment during today’s trading.
Total NASDAQ trading volume amounted to 10,612,061,434 shares, about 3% lower than yesterday’s 10,985,114,212 shares.
Market Wrap-Up Report
Technology, up 0.77%, and Energy, up 0.55%, led the market today, while seven sectors finished in the red, including Financials, which declined 0.94%. The session was marked by bearish sentiment in the afternoon, as investors digested developments from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed reduced the interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, a widely anticipated move. Analysts have been watching for the possibility of one more rate cut before year-end, potentially at the Fed’s December Open Market Committee meeting. While the Fed Chairman did not completely rule out a December rate cut, his remarks cast sufficient doubt on its likelihood.
Markets opened higher across the board, including the Russell 2000, which tracks small-cap stocks. Nvidia Corp (NVDA) extended gains from Tuesday, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) notably held its ground during a mid-day pullback following the Fed briefing. AMD has been trending well since early April, consolidating through August and September before breaking out on October 6. Apple Inc. (AAPL) reports reports earnings tomorrow. Given recent performance, AAPL stock may be worth adding to your watchlist or keeping an eye on.
Google Alphabet (GOOGL) surged in after-hours trading after reporting earnings that exceeded market expectations, driven by strong revenue growth and increased investment in AI data centers. During Wednesday’s regular session, Google shares rose 2.65% ($7.10) to close at $274.57, with 43 million shares traded, before climbing an additional 6% in after-hours trading.
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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 data for these reports.
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(c) This article is published by The Canadian Vanguard on October 29, 2025.
