04:18 PM EST, 12/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- After a string of winning days prior to the Christmas break, the Toronto Stock Exchange fell 50 points to 24,796.40 on its return to business Friday amid some strong selling pressure across North America, particularly in technology stocks.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was shortly before the close today down 450 points with Nvidia and Microsoft both contributing. This comes after the S&P 500 lost 1.6% and the Nasdaq 100 2% yesterday, when Nvidia again led losses.

Here in Canada today, more sectors were up than down, though only the Battery Metals Index rose by at least 1%. Info Tech was the biggest loser, but it lost less than 1%.

That the TSX managed to half its losses over the second half of the day may reflect some optimism among Canadian stock pickers, as reflected in a Bloomberg report today that said Canadian investment strategists expect the country's main stock index to keep up its momentum next year, even with possible tariffs from Donald Trump's incoming administration hanging over the economy.

Bloomberg noted Trump's threats have disrupted Canadian politics and led economists to worry about a recession. Yet, the report said, the S&P/TSX Composite Index is higher today than it was on US election day, and the benchmark has jumped about 18% this year, its best showing since 2021.

Rising corporate earnings and lower interest rates will help drive the equity benchmark toward a record 28,000 points in 2025, according to some market watchers cited by Bloomberg. This would mean another year of double-digit returns in 2025.

Among those making that call is Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management, who said Canadian stocks have more reasonable valuations than US equities, which gives them room to catch up. "I think Canada has quite the edge over the S&P 500," Petursson, who set his TSX target at 28,000 points, said in an interview. "If we are in an environment where US inflation and interest rates are going to be a little bit higher, Canada looks quite attractive."

Of commodities today, MarketWatch said oil prices climbed on Friday as Israeli strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels triggered what one strategist described as a "fear bid" for the commodity. It noted West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery gained 98 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $70.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by 91 cents, or 1.2%, to $74.17 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Back on Nymex, it also noted, January gasoline rose 0.6% to $1.9582 a gallon, while January heating oil gained 1.8% to $2.2448 a gallon. January natural gas shed 5.4% to $3.514 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal noted U.S. crude oil inventories fell by more than expected last week and product stocks were mixed as refineries raised their capacity use, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stockpiles excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 4.2 million barrels to 416.8 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 20 and were about 5% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said.

Meanwhile, gold for both February and April 2025 were down close to US$25 each.