Canada's main stock index was muted on Monday as gains in energy stocks, driven by higher oil prices amid renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities, offset weakness in materials stocks linked to lower gold prices.
The TSX sank 33.11 points to begin Monday at 35,272.
The Canadian dollar was higher 0.11 cents to 70.71 cents U.S.
Meanwhile, investors await the Bank of Canada policy decision due Wednesday.
The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its key policy rate unchanged at 2.25% on Wednesday, as signs of easing underlying price pressures give policymakers little reason to raise borrowing costs, while a rebound in economic growth after a technical recession reduces the need for any stimulus.
Among individual stocks, Air Canada slipped 51 cents to $23.94, after the airline said it had reached a tentative collective agreement with the union representing about 11,000 technical operations, airport, cargo, logistics and supply employees.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 16.66 points, or 1.8%, to 889.32
Eight of the 12 subgroups were ahead early Monday, led by energy, up 1.9%, telecoms, advancing 1.3%, and consumer staples, better by 0.9%.
On the down side, gold led the four laggards, off 2%, while materials skidded 1.5%, and financials declined 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 slid to session lows on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he was reinstating what he called a blockade on Iranian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 65.53 points to 52,571.48.
The much broader index shed 25.5 points to close at 7,549.89.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 216.04 points to 26,065.56.
“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”
Trump on Saturday ordered airstrikes on Iran after Tehran attacked a commercial vessel transiting the strait.
Semiconductor names were under pressure. U.S.-listed shares of SK Hynix lost 7% following the South Korean chipmaker’s Nasdaq debut on Friday, when it soared 13%.
Shares in Micron Technology were down 6%, while shares of Sandisk shed 10%. Seagate Technology fell 6%. Elsewhere, Advanced Micro Devices was 4% lower, along with Intel.
Major U.S. banks — including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo — are among the 28 S&P 500 companies set to report earnings this week. Quarterly results from Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth are also on deck.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped, raising keeping yields to 4.60% from Friday’s 4.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $2.92 to $74.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices waned $99.50 to $4,014.20 U.S. an ounce.
