TSX soars to record high close, Wall Street surges on Trump tax news

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s main index and major New York indices all soared to record highs Friday — partly on news that United States President Donald Trump will soon reveal his tax policy.

On Bay Street, the S&P/TSX composite index advanced 111.82 points to 15,729.12, shattering a previous record close of 15,657.63 set on Sept. 3, 2014.

The loonie rose 0.32 of a U.S. cent to 76.42 cents US.

South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 96.97 points to 20,269.37 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.23 points to 2,316.10.

The Nasdaq composite index meanwhile rose 18.95 points to 5,734.13 for its fourth consecutive day of all-time highs.

Miners and other raw materials companies led the market rally and rising crude oil prices also gave energy companies a big boost.

Investors kept their focus on strong company earnings and corporate deal news.

“We’re about 70 per cent, almost three-quarters of the way through earnings season and about 75 per cent of the companies have beat the targets,” said Randy Frederick, vice-president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. “That’s the best number we’ve seen, in terms of beats, for the last three years.”

Beyond earnings, investors also were buoyed by Trump’s promise on Thursday that he is preparing the expected businessfriendly policy proposals that helped drive a market rally last f all, including slashing government regulations and taxes.