04:23 PM EST, 01/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange showed few signs of slowing down Friday, rising for a ninth-straight session as the index showed little sign of slowing as investors continue to add risk even as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his threats to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Canada.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 34.41 to 25.468.49, leaving it less than 1% off its 52-week high of 25,691.80 hit on Dec. 6. The TSX went in to Friday's session with its largest eight day point gain and longest win streak since August 2024 already in the bag. More sectors were up than down today, albeit led by Info Tech with modest gains of 0.5%. Energy was the biggest loser, down more than 1%.

BMO's Doug Porter pointed to the "resiliency" of the Canadian market in the face of a possible trade war, with the overall index "essentially unchanged" since just prior to the first threat from the United States of 25% tariffs.

Doug Porter, Chief Economist at BMO Capital Markets, in a Friday note cited as a 'Friday factoid' that the TSX close on November 25, just prior to the first threat of tariffs, was 25,410. Two months later, at yesterday's close, it was at 25,434 -- up 0.1%, or "essentially unchanged".

According to Porter, this resiliency in the face of the tariff threat reflects the following: global markets have rebounded "mightily"; the TSX is not a good reflection of the Canadian economy, given its massive weightings in financials, energy and materials; and investors may just not take the tariff threat as anything more than a negotiating stance. Porter noted a Wall Street Journal article this week suggested as much, citing the threat as a way to quickly re-open USMCA negotiations, since denied by the president.

Still, with the Canadian economy facing a "possible massive shock" from U.S. tariffs, Porter said the Bank of Canada should likely be cutting rates on Wednesday, "simply from a risk-management perspective". He added: "Even if the tariff threat is hollow, which may indeed be the case, the now deep uncertainty of U.S./Canada trade relations will likely put an icy chill into business capital spending plans, at least for any firm that exports."

Andrew Grantham, Senior Economist at CIBC Capital Markets, on Friday noted "the green shoots of an economic acceleration are small enough, and the storm clouds from potential tariffs dark enough, to justify a further 25bp interest rate cut" from the Bank of Canada on Wednesday. There have been 175 basis points of cuts in the current rate cycle, to date.

According to Grantham, the "tallest" of the green shoots came in the form of December's labor force release. He said some green shoots of improvement were also seen in retail sales volumes and housing sales.

Grantham wrote, "So even before adding President Trump's trade threats into the mix, a case could be made for further policy easing. The potential for Canadian exports to be hit with tariffs, maybe as early as February 1st, should only strengthen the case. While tariffs, and likely retaliatory actions, would boost the price level in the near term, our analysis suggests that the impact on activity (adding to the slack already present within the economy) would be great enough to be disinflationary over the medium term without additional policy support. That was also the sentiment shared by the Bank of Canada in its 2019 research conducted during President Trump's first term. The only reason for the word "should" in the earlier sentence is because we can't be 100% sure policymakers still agree with that sentiment, until seeing updated research.

"Overall, the most interesting part of next week's policy decision and MPR could be the Bank's discussion of how severe a trade storm would be, and any hints given as to how policymakers will fight it. For the here and now, the green shoots showing up in the economic data need to grow further, with the help of a further 25bp cut to the overnight rate."

Of commodities today, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed with a small gain following five down sessions, after Donald Trump roiled markets by urging Saudi Arabia to bring down oil prices and continued to threaten stiff tariffs on imports from Canada. WTI oil for March delivery closed up $0.04 to settle at US$74.66 per barrel, while March Brent crude was last seen up $0.23 to $78.52.

Gold traded higher mid-afternoon on Friday, moving close to the record high set in October, as the dollar weakened and safe haven buying rose on Donald Trump's threat to upset global trade. Gold for February delivery was last seen up $15.20 at US$2,780.20 per ounce, the highest since Oct.30, when the metal closed at a record US$2,800.80.