Markets soar on Powell’s comments

Allan Tong Posted On August 22, 2025

All week, markets awaited the latest comments from U.S. Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, about interest rates, and on Friday he hinted that he would cut rates next month. That suggestion was enough to trigger a strong rally in New York and Toronto, leaving the S&P 1.52% higher, the Nasdaq 1.88%, the Dow 1.89% and the TSX 0.99%. However, it wasn’t enough to lift the Nasdaq out of the red for the week, down 0.6%, while the S&P rose nearly 0.3%, and the Dow and TSX both advanced 1.5%. The U.S. 10-year yield slipped to 4.254%.

On Wall Street, Intel jumped 5.53% on news that Washington would take an equity stake in the troubled company, Tesla rallied 6.22%, Alphabet 3.17%, Norwegian Cruise Line 7.23% as many leisure stocks enjoyed their day in the sun, and CSX slipped 3.6%. On Bay Street, Brookfield Asset Management rose 2.92%, Denison Mines 6.27%, Weston slid 4.1%, and CNQ climbed 2.69%. The big news was Cenovus buying Meg Energy, popping 7.13% and 1.23% respectively. Seven sectors, led by large gains in tech and energy, advanced, while staples led the losers.