December 5, 2025
As we move into 2026, the market landscape continues to evolve, shaped by economic trends, technology, and global priorities.
Here’s a look at what’s happening across key sectors and what to keep in mind.
Crypto’s evolution in 2025 was defined by regulatory clarity, institutional participation and the rapid growth of tokenized real-world assets. In 2026, crypto enters its “integration phase,” where digital assets, public markets and AI increasingly intersect.
Key trends could include:
The energy market enters 2026 at a crossroads: short-term volatility in oil markets contrasts with powerful long-term supply constraints. The outlook for natural gas remains strong across all time horizons, while oil’s medium-to-long-term setup looks highly constructive.
Oil markets softened in 2025 due to new supply from Brazil and Guyana, along with OPEC+ gradually releasing spare capacity. Global inventories rose meaningfully. Although tariffs created volatility, their actual cost impact on producers was minor.
Natural gas was a standout performer, supported by rapid growth in LNG exports and rising U.S. electricity demand. Canadian oil equities also posted positive returns despite a ~15% drop in crude prices.
Oil markets may stay oversupplied through early 2026, but structural tightness should emerge later due to:
Natural gas is benefiting from massive electrification demand, especially from AI-driven data centres. LNG Canada’s full ramp-up in 2026 is a major catalyst for Canadian producers.
Gold, critical minerals and the broader metals sector enter 2026 with strong momentum. A mix of economic uncertainty, geopolitical tension and technological transformation is driving demand across multiple categories.
Gold surged in 2025, supported by central bank buying, renewed Western investor interest and a favourable macro backdrop. Gold equities have begun to catch up and remain attractively valued, in our view.
Beyond gold, the broader mining sector is being shaped by:
Canada remains a Tier-1 jurisdiction with meaningful opportunities across gold regions, uranium, battery metals and rare earths.
After a year marked by interest rate cuts in both Canada and the U.S., bond markets showed strong performance in 2025—particularly in the U.S. As we head into 2026, the main question is whether central banks are nearly done reducing rates.
We see two opposing forces shaping the year:
In the U.S., inflation remains influenced by tariffs still flowing through the system. At the same time, government spending is expected to support economic activity in early 2026. This combination may lead the Federal Reserve to signal an earlier end to rate cuts than markets expect.
Canada’s situation is more subdued. The Bank of Canada has indicated it is essentially done cutting unless job markets deteriorate meaningfully.
High-quality fixed income continues to play an important role for investors:
Despite tariff-driven volatility early in 2025, the global economy expanded roughly 3.1% for the year. AI-related investment in semiconductors, infrastructure and power supported growth and markets.
The cycle that began in 2022 appears to be in early stages, backed by:
Risks include U.S.–China relations, inflation pressures and diverging consumer conditions. Still, concerns about an “AI bubble” appear overstated given strong cash flow, real demand for compute and far healthier fundamentals than the dot-com era.
Infrastructure delivered steady results in 2025 despite volatility. Looking to 2026, two major long-term forces support the sector:
With interest rates easing and the global economy stable, both defensive (Utilities, Real Estate) and cyclical (Industrials, Energy) infrastructure areas may perform well.
Across markets, 2026 may present a range of outcomes. Key trends to follow include:
Observing these trends can provide helpful context for understanding how different markets are evolving. While uncertainty remains, staying aware of broad developments may make it easier to consider how different sectors and asset classes interact throughout the year.
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