Canada's main stock index opened ?higher on Friday after Iran's move to open the Strait of Hormuz lifted Middle East peace hopes and boosted risk appetite, ?outweighing declines in energy shares pressured by ?plunging oil prices.
The TSX Composite Index zoomed 203.68 points to conclude Thursday at 34,255.91. On the week so far, the index has ballooned 1,147 points, or 3.47%.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.17 cents at 73.16 cents U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed confidence that an agreement could soon be reached to end the Iran war and urged the Tehran-aligned Hezbollah to support the 10-day truce between Lebanon and Israel.
On the economic beat, housing starts declined in March to 235,900 from February's 256,005.
Meantime, Canadian investors acquired $25.4 billion of foreign securities in February 2026, the largest investment since March 2024.
Meanwhile, foreign investors purchased $6.2 billion of Canadian securities, following an unprecedented investment in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 25.32 points, or 2.4%, to kick off Friday at 1,068.91. On the week so far, the index has jumped 76 points, or 7.7%.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were stronger in the first hour, as gold jumped 3.4%, materials bounced 2.6%, and consumer discretionary moved higher 2.1%.
The two laggards were energy, slumping 6.2%, and utilities 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rocketed higher on Friday after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” on the heels of a ceasefire announcement between Israel and Lebanon.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 868.95 points to open the week’s last session at 48,447.67.
The S&P 500 jumped 73.33 points, or 1%, to 7,114.61
The tech-heavy NASDAQ hiked 277.97 points, or 1.2%, to 24,380.67.
Stocks in key industries vulnerable to the strait’s effective closure, such as cruise lines and airlines, rebounded. Shares of Boeing advanced 4% and Royal Caribbean, gained 9%.
Others such as Amazon and Airbnb also moved higher.
The latest developments build on Trump’s comments from earlier this week that the Middle East conflict is “very close to over” and that Tehran wants to “make a deal very badly.”
Hopes of a peace deal have propelled stocks to record highs in recent days, with the three major averages all pacing for a solidly positive week. The blue-chip Dow has added nearly 3%, while the S&P 500 has risen more than 4% and the NASDAQ has gained more than 6%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury spiked, lowering yields to 4.24% from Thursday’s 4.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices boarded the “down” elevator $10.25 to $84.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $81.50 to $4,889.80 U.S. an ounce.
