04:27 PM EDT, 10/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange recovered some lost ground Wednesday on bargain buying after the index was sold down a total of more than 700 points over the prior four sessions since last Wednesday's record close, but gains were capped as investors await the release tomorrow of data that will show if consumer spending held up or not over the third quarter.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 94.16 points, or 0.3%, at 29,982.98, sticking under the record close of 30,637.12 set last Wednesday. Most sectors were higher, but only Energy was up by more than 1%, gaining near 1.5%. The Battery Metals Index lost near 7%, Base Metals was down 1.4% and Health Care lost 0.85%.

On retail sales, BMO Economics in a preview published this week said it was looking for Friday's retail sales report to show a 1% rise in August. BMO senior economist Shelly Kaushik noted: "Our call is in line with StatCan's flash estimate and will be helped by an increase in goods prices for the month. Lower auto sales will offset some of the headline increase, pointing to a larger 1.5% gain in spending ex-autos. We'll be watching the flash estimate for September sales closely for an early look at how consumer spending held up through the third quarter, though a continuation of the pattern points to a dip in activity."

RBC in its preview published Monday also noted a preliminary estimate of retail sales for August from Statistics Canada pointed to a 1% rebound following a July dip. It said September's flash estimate on Thursday will be closely watched for signs of continued resilience in consumer spending. RBC's card spending data showed relatively firm momentum in September, though Q3 quarterly spending growth has slowed from Q2.

Of commodities today, gold traded higher late afternoon on Wednesday, ending a correction from Monday's record high following a big drop a day earlier. Gold for December delivery was last seen up $12.10 to US$4,121.20 per ounce after falling by US$250.30 a day earlier, down from Monday's record US$4.359.40 close.

Staying on gold, Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, showed how the "extreme" rally in gold and silver has transformed things of late, noting Canadian exports of these precious metals has matched exports of cars and light trucks in the past 12 months. Both were just above $58 billion. "That means that

after crude oil, gold is thus about to become Canada's second biggest export, assuming the recent gold price correction doesn't turn into a free fall."

But West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose today after a report showed an unexpected drop in U.S. oil inventories last week, countering worries over an over-supplied market, while India again promised the U.S. Administration it will end purchases of Russian oil. WTI crude oil for December delivery closed up $1.26 to settle at $58.50 per barrel, while December Brent oil was last seen up $1.27 to $62.59.