<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">04:24 PM EST, 01/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange set its ninth record close of 2026 on Friday, buoyed by elevated commodity prices, while there was a rebound in Canadian retail sales for November, albeit not a quarterly turnaround, just as Rosenberg Research explained &#34;why consumer staples look interesting again&#34;.The S&amp;P/TSX Composite Index closed up 142.28 points, or 0.4%, at 33,144.98. In comparison, the first record close for the index this year came on Jan. 5 at 32,219.95. According to Dow Jones Market Data, FactSet going in to today the TSX is up 4.07% or 1,289.94 points since the start of the month.Most sectors were higher, led by Base Metals, up near 3%, and then Info Tech, up 1.4%, and Energy, up 1.15%, while Health Care, down 2.75%, capped gains as Truist said the Ph3 results of the RED-C program announced earlier Friday by Bausch Health ( BHC ) &#34;could place more pressure&#34; on the company's options after Xifaxan loss of exclusivity by year end 2027. BHC lost 11% in Canada trade.Of commodities, gold traded at another record high and approached the US$5,000 mark late afternoon Friday as momentum buying continues to push the precious metal higher and the dollar weakened. Gold for February delivery was up $67.80 to US$4.9981.30 per ounce, rising off Thursday's record close. Silver also rose to a record, up $5.10 to US$101.47. The price of gold is up 71% over the past year and 9.1% over the past month amid strong demand from central banks and exchange-traded funds while momentum buying from investors continues.Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose Friday as geopolitical tensions heightened again, this time on fresh threats to Iran from the United States. WTI crude oil for March delivery closed up $1.71 to settle at US$61.07 per barrel, while March Brent oil was last seen up $1.80 to US$65.86.BMO Capital Markets Chief Executive Douglas Porter in his regular 'Talking Points' note said &#34;few have been better able to ignore the noise&#34; than players on Canada's equity market, with the TSX reaching yet new heights this week despite the &#34;swirling storms&#34; all around. Of course, Porter added, the latest surge in metals prices provided support for materials, assisted by the spike in gas and a firming in crude oil to US$61/barrel. &#34;Even with a serious wobble on Tuesday, the TSX still managed a net gain on the week, and is remarkably able to shrug off geopolitical events.&#34;Porter noted the Canadian dollar also had a strong week, rising 1.5% to 72.8 cents (or $1.371/US$). It benefitted both from a broad softening in the U.S. dollar, but also from the double-barreled strength in both gold and oil prices. After all, he said, those two commodities are currently the number one and number two largest Canadian exports. &#34;True,&#34; Porter added, &#34;the production and mining of gold may not be huge movers for the Canadian economy, but the metal is increasingly weighing into the currency's future.&#34;In economics, National Bank noted Canadian retail sales &#34;staged a solid rebound&#34; in November, reversing two consecutive monthly declines and coming in stronger than both consensus and advance estimates. It noted the gain was broad based with eight of nine subsectors rising and core retail sales were up a &#34;robust&#34; 1.6%.However, National said, the improvement in November &#34;does not signal a decisive shift in trend&#34;, noting auto sales lagged the broader retail basket and regional gains were uneven. More importantly, the bank added, real spending remains fragile: after having contracted at a 1.3% annualized pace in the third quarter, the final quarter of the year looks no better. Indeed, the bank noted, Statistics Canada's preliminary estimate points to a 0.5% nominal decline in December. The bank said: &#34;With goods prices essentially flat in the December CPI report, this implies a similar sized pullback in real terms. As a result, real retail sales are tracking a roughly 1.4% annualized decline in Q4 based on this estimate. As such, we expect goods consumption to detract from growth in the fourth quarter. Rising debt service costs, population driven weakening demand, and still cautious consumer confidence continue to cap upside, leaving Canadian retail activity stuck in a holding pattern heading into early 2026.&#34;With interesting timing, Mehmet Beceren at Rosenberg Research published a note entitled 'Why Consumer Staples Look Interesting Again' in which he said consumer staples &#34;look primed for a contrarian over-performance thanks to cheap valuations and an improving margin outlook&#34;.While the note is focused on related U.S. stocks, it should make for interesting reading for investors here that invest across North American markets. Among highlights, Beceren said after three years of underperformance, consumer staples &#34;look positioned for relative upside as defensive rotation re-emerges and expectations remain reset, with last year's downgrade cycle starting to fade&#34;. Beceren added: &#34;sticky consumer prices alongside cooling producer/input costs point to potential margin expansion, supporting a firmer EPS revision trend.&#34; MT Newswires does not provide investment advice. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.</div>

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) achieved its ninth record close of 2026, rising 142.28 points to 33,144.98, driven by high commodity prices and a rebound in Canadian retail sales for November. Gold prices approached $5,000 per ounce, while WTI crude oil rose to $61.07 per barrel amid geopolitical tensions. Despite a solid retail sales rebound, National Bank cautioned that real spending remains fragile. Rosenberg Research highlighted consumer staples as potentially attractive investments due to cheap valuations and improving margins, suggesting a contrarian opportunity for investors.

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TSX Closer: Sets Ninth Record Close of 2026; Rosenberg On 'Why Consumer Staples Look Interesting Again'