Securities of Quebec companies reacted strongly on the stock market on Wednesday, the day after the American presidential election which crowned Donald Trump.
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The renewable energy sector, which could suffer from the return of the Republican candidate to the White House, had a bad day on the markets. Shares of Boralex and Innergex fell by 4.5% and 1.2% respectively.
On the other hand, shares of several transportation companies rose, as investors bet that their customers will move ahead with shipping contracts to avoid the tariffs promised by Mr. Trump.
The shares of Montreal trucking group TFI International jumped 11.3% while that of Canadian National gained 3.8%.
Tesla rises, Lion falls
Tesla’s stock, for its part, benefited from the strong support that Elon Musk gave to Donald Trump, appreciating by 14.8%. Other companies in the same niche did not have the same luck: Rivian lost 8.3% while Quebec-based Lion Électrique fell by 3.7%.
Another big winner in the stock market was the US financial sector, which was propelled by the prospects of further deregulation. Canadian institutions like the Bank of Montreal and Manulife, both very present south of the border, have ridden the wave.
Wall Street’s flagship index, the S&P 500, ended Wednesday on a new record thanks to a 2.5% increase supported by both technology stocks and more traditional companies. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks rose 5.8%, with investors predicting that SMEs will benefit from Mr. Trump’s protectionist policies.
The US dollar saw a surge of more than 1.6% against a basket of foreign currencies.
Bitcoin explodes
Bitcoin, associated with Mr. Trump for some time, also reacted well to his victory, exploding by more than 10% to reach a new record of more than CA$105,000.
“Donald Trump can create an environment that encourages risk-taking, so that could be good for bitcoin and other speculative assets for a while to come,” said Sébastien Mc Mahon, chief strategist at iA Financial Group.
Sébastien McMahon
Photo iA Financial Group
Let us note in passing that a mysterious trader French in cryptocurrencies, Théo, made a gain of US$48 million by betting US$30 million on the election of Mr. Trump on the online betting platform Polymarket.
Also on the rise in Toronto
Despite fears in the economic community about the potentially harmful effects of a new Trump presidency on Canada, the S&P/TSX index still recorded a gain of 1% on Wednesday.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s energy subindex, made up mainly of oil and gas companies that view Donald Trump favorably, rose 2%.
Mr. Mc Mahon does not believe that the vote will necessarily have a negative impact on the stocks of Canadian companies.
“What is good for the American economy is good for the Canadian economy because we have very close commercial ties,” he emphasizes.
