04:21 PM EST, 12/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange closed at a fresh record high on Thursday, regaining its mojo following three lackluster sessions after setting the prior record at the end of November, leaving even grizzled market watchers struggling to try and explain why equity markets across North America are so hot.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 38.86 to close at 25,680.04, topping the previous high of 25,648.0 set on Nov.29. Energy, up 0.78%, and Utilities, up 0.77%, were the big gainers on the day, with Battery Metals, down 1.2% the biggest decliner.

David Rosenberg, a founder and president of Rosenberg Research, in a Thursday memo said the bottom line for the hot markets in Canada and the United States is that "one can reasonably debate whether the stock market has risen exponentially, but there is no arguing that the surge in the S&P 500 these past two years has been nothing short of extraordinary."

"And," Rosenberg added, "it has clearly gone much further than I thought it would, especially in these past twelve months, and so at this point, it is worth the time and effort to discuss and interpret the message from the market; tip the hat to the bulls who have, after all, been on the right side of the trade, and provide some rationale behind this powerful surge. This is not some attempt at a mea culpa or a throwing in of any towel, as much as the lament of a bear who has come to grips with the premise that while the market has definitely been exuberant, it may not actually be altogether that irrational."

According to Rosenberg, the rising markets are due to "an investment community lengthening their investment horizons and rendering classic valuation metrics obsolete (at least for the environment we find ourselves in currently). That's the major point."

Thursday's gains came even as Oxford Economics published a report saying if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes good on his recent threats to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and additional 10% tariffs on China, all three North American economies will be pushed close to or into recession.

Where the TSX goes on Friday may well depend on how Canada's Labour Force Survey (LFS) for November comes out. S&P Global Ratings said it anticipates an increase in employment by 12,000 in November, following a gain of 14,500 jobs in October, which brings the three-month average to 25,000 jobs per month.

While job growth has accelerated recently, it remains insufficient to keep pace with the growth of the labor force and overall population, noted S&P Global. It expects the unemployment rate to rise to 6.7% from 6.5% in the previous month, marking an increase of nearly one percentage point over the past year.

On the equities front, market watchers will keep at least one eye on the fiscal fourth-quarter earnings reports from Canadian Western Bank ( CWESF ) , which is in the process of being acquired by National Bank (NA.TO), and also earnings from Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) as the bank earnings season winds down for another year.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed with a loss, even after OPEC+, as expected, agreed to extend the start of returning 2.2-million barrels per day of voluntary production cuts to market until April instead of January and will push out the full return over 18 months instead of a year. WTI crude oil for January delivery closed down US$0.24 to settle at US$68.30 per barrel, while February Brent crude closed down US$0.22 to US$72.09.

Gold traded lower late afternoon on Thursday, moving down even as the dollar weakened following an unexpected jump in U.S. initial jobless claims last week. Gold for February delivery was last seen down US$21.40 to US$2,654.80 per ounce.