04:15 PM EDT, 08/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange eked out its first rise in three sessions on Monday, buoyed by cannabis stocks amid talk of a possible reclassification in the United States, while Rosenberg Research said its scorecard for Canadian equities remains above that of the United States.

Despite mixed commodity prices, the resources-heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index managed to close up 16.55 points at 27,775.23, with most sectors up, led by Health Care, near 5% higher, on the strength of cannabis issues. Energy was the biggest loser, down near 1%.

Cannabis listings jumped Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is looking at reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Among dual listed stocks, Aurora Cannabis ( ACB ) was up more than 16%, and Cronos ( CRON ) was up near 15% and Tilray (TLRY.TO, TLRY) was up 40%.

Looking at the big picture for equities, Rosenberg Research in its latest 'Strategizer', a monthly guidebook for active investors, said its U.S.-focused asset allocation model is unchanged from last month, retaining a minus 10 percentage point underweight in equities (45%) while overweighting both fixed income (45%) and cash (10%).

Strategizer's Canadian equity model score fell for the third month in a row, down to 24.6 from 29.0 and breaking into "underweight" territory in the process. Rosenberg Research continues to note extreme volatility in its model's view on Canada of late, sitting at the highest score since October 2024 just three months ago to now sitting at the lowest score since August 2021. It said while optimism around the new government under Prime Minister Mark Carney and, more recently, the potential resumption in Bank of Canada rate cuts ahead, have both helped to push up the index towards new highs, the price action has superseded underlying earnings momentum and dragged the scorecard lower. Though, the research noted, it remains above that of the United States. Strategizer is "approaching max. bearish on U.S. stocks".

At the sector level, its Canadian equity model keeps Financials (#1) and Materials (#2) in the group of favored sectors, joined by a tie for #3 between Energy and Real Estate. Industrials (#8 from #3) and Communication Services (#5 from #4) have fallen out of the top rankings.

Meanwhile, Strategizer's commodity model pulled back "a touch" in July, declining to a score of 56.0 from 58.2. Following more bullish readings of a year ago (CRB spot index up about 6% since), Strategizer "retains its constructive overall view with prior commentary remaining consistent".

According to the Strategizer, median time-spreads are depressed, at a 38th percentile reading, which is indicative of loosening supply. It said: "This is consistent with a sluggish global growth backdrop. Positioning data are reflective of this, maintaining a very light portion of investors' portfolios (30th percentile; contrarian positive), as are cheap valuations". In other words, it added, negativity is warranted, but is properly discounted "in the price." The result is the risk of a "positive" surprise relative to expectations, it noted.

Aluminum (#1), wheat (#2), RBOB gasoline (#3), WTI crude (#4), and heating oil (#5) make up the individual components at the top of Strategizer's individual commodity rankings. The Strategizer said this mix is reflective of the broadening out across select commodity markets, from metals, to agriculture, to energy, relative to prior months that were dominated by one subgroup. It was mostly energy prior to this, for example, it added.

On gold, specifically, the research noted a pullback in the Strategizer model score to 26.8 from 31.5, with the yellow metal once again making a push to new record highs above US$3,400 per ounce. "Long-term," the research said, "we remain bullish, but this recent period of consolidation/range-trading since April has kept our model's near-term outlook as a 'hold'."

Of commodities today, gold was sharply lower late afternoon Monday as confusion over whether the U.S. will impose tariffs on imports of gold bars continues. Gold for December delivery was last seen down $89.60 per ounce to US$3,401.70 per ounce, after rising as high as US$3,543.10 on Friday in volatile intraday trade.

But West Texas Intermediate crude oil edged up from a two-month low despite rising supply as the market focuses on Friday's planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart. WTI crude oil for September delivery closed up $0.08 to settle at US$63.96 per barrel, rising off the lowest since June 5, while October Brent oil was seen up $0.16 to US$66.75.