The U.S. and Canada returning to the bargaining table resulted in modest gains on the TSX today.
Canada’s stock exchange finished 34 points to the positive, with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland saying she’s optimistic about the ‘intense period’ of NAFTA negotiations between Canada and the U.S.
All but two of the TSX’s 11 major sectors moved higher, with energy jumping 0.69 percent and financials up a quarter percent.
Cannabis producers were once again among the top five most heavily traded stocks on the index, and all of them rallied from Tuesday’s losses.
On Wall Street, the Dow rose 60 points  while the Nasdaq stayed on pace for its best August in 18 years by ending the day 79 points higher.
Oil prices climbed $1.18 to $69.71 US a barrel on news of a drop in U.S. domestic crude supplies, while gold lost $1.70 to end the day at $1,204 an ounce.
The loonie was relatively flat, gaining 13/100ths of a cent to $0.7745 US.
Meanwhile, the National Bank of Canada’s Q3 profits jumped 10 percent from the same time a year ago. National Bank reported a net income of $569 million, driven by net income growth across all business segments.
This report didn’t equate into a stock jump, however, with shares down slightly by the end of the trading day.
