TSX edges higher amid US-China trade talks and upcoming jobs data

Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday amid choppy trading, as investors assessed news of U.S.-China tariff negotiations and awaited key jobs data from both home and the United States.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.1% at 26,358.00 points.

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump by phone, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. It mentioned the phone talks were at Trump’s request but didn’t provide further details.

“The largest trading partner for the U.S. is China and the fact that Trump and President Xi are holding a call to discuss trade is a positive development, especially given the setbacks that we’ve seen recently”, said Ian Chong, portfolio manager at First Avenue Investment Counsel.

“While the focus looks positive, we still don’t know what’s going to happen because there could be a moment where people are more concerned about non-farm payroll and they might start taking some risk off the table.”

Employment figures from Canada and non-farm payrolls data from the U.S. are scheduled for Friday, which can help assess the impact of Trump’s trade policies on the labour market.

TSX flat as tariff uncertainty lingers; BoC holds key rate steady

Meanwhile data showed on Thursday, Canada’s trade deficit in April widened to an all-time high of a whopping C$7.1 billion ($5.2 billion), as tariffs imposed by Trump sucked out demand for Canadian goods from the United States.

The U.S. tariff hikes on steel and aluminum took effect on Wednesday, prompting concerns from Canadian companies and a major union of more job losses and lost sales.

On TSX, metal miners’ subindex gained nearly 2% as gold prices rose. Energy sector was up 0.5% after oil extended gains.

Conversely, information and technology stocks fell 1%, led by a 9% drop in Descartes after the parametric insurance specialist missed first-quarter result estimates.