Canadian, U.S. stock markets notch new record highs amid continued AI boom

A group of men walks past a building in Toronto that used to house the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, August 18 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

TORONTO — Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. reached new highs, powered by gains in energy and AI, respectively. 

Theresa Shutt, chief investment officer at Harbourfront Wealth Management, said themes around higher risk appetite driven by “AI fervour” helped lift the U.S. market. She said this was somewhat counterbalanced by lingering tensions between the U.S. and Iran and concerns that the market has risen too high.   

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 434.57 points at 35,169.46.   

• Real-time TSX market updates here

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 228.91 points at 51,307.79. The S&P 500 index was up 9.82 points at 7,609.78, while the Nasdaq composite was up 7.09 points at 27,093.90. The S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent after drifting between small gains and losses through the day.  

Hewlett Packard Enterprise helped lead the market, and its stock soared 19.5 per cent after it reported a profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts’ expectations. It credited demand from customers building their artificial-intelligence capabilities.

Marvell Technology leaped 32.5 per cent for its best day since its stock began trading in 2000 after Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, suggested at a conference in Taiwan that Marvell could be “the next trillion-dollar company.” The last company to enter the expanding club of behemoths was Micron Technology, which is likewise riding the AI wave. Nvidia, which slipped 0.7 per cent, has seen its total value top US$5 trillion.

• Latest technology news on BNNBloomberg.ca

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said it’s raising US$80 billion in cash to help pay for its investments by selling shares of its stock. It’s planning to spend as much as US$190 billion on equipment and other investments this year.

That’s more than all the stock of The Walt Disney Co. is worth, and Alphabet is forecasting its spending on investments next year will “significantly increase.”

Analysts have been saying the broad U.S. stock market may be set for a slowdown following an unrelenting streak of nine straight winning weeks for the S&P 500, its longest since 2023.

“People are starting to question these peaks, but we’ve also seen some gains in the small- and mid-cap sectors … particularly for those companies that are AI adjacent, which is a nice theme and maybe means that we’re seeing some of the markets start to broaden out,” Shutt said. 

The rally has been largely due to strong profit reports from U.S. companies, as well as hopes that the United States and Iran will reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That would allow oil to flow freely again from the Persian Gulf and hopefully lower its price.

In the oil market, prices rose again to claw back more of last week’s slump. Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 1.1 per cent to settle at US$96.00 per barrel. 

The July crude oil contract for West Texas Intermediate was up US$1.60 at US$93.76 per barrel.

• Stay on top of your portfolio with real-time data, historical charts and the latest news on oil

In the Canadian stock market, the energy sector led the TSX to a new peak. 

“In terms of the energy sector, the fact that there’s still not peace in sight, it still brings a lot of questions around energy stability and certainty. Until that picture clears, oil prices will remain elevated,”  Shutt said. 

“You might see them dip down a little, but I’m sure we’re not getting to US$60 a barrel for some time.” 

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.29 cents US compared with 72.27 cents US on Monday.    

The August gold contract was up US$13.60 at US$4,519.90 an ounce.

---

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press

With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2026.