Canada's main stock index rose sharply midday Friday after Iran's move to open the Strait of Hormuz raised expectations that the conflict would end soon ?and normalize oil and gas supplies, lifting investor sentiment globally.
The TSX Composite Index zoomed 258.02 points to conclude Thursday at 34,310.25. On the week so far, the index has ballooned 1,202 points, or 3.6%.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.17 cents at 73.16 cents U.S.
Miners including Avino Silver and Gold Mines and NovaGold Resources were ?among the top gainers. Avino triumphed 93 cents, or 9.5%, to $10.75, while NovaGold captured $1.25, or 9%, to $15.13.
Vermilion Energy ditched $1.91, or 11.2% to $15.17, Canadian Natural Resources and Baytex Energy fell $5.35, or 8.4%, to $58.12.
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 24.51 points, or 2.4%, to move into lunch hour Friday at 1,068.10. On the week so far, the index has jumped 75.88 points, or 7.65%.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were stronger as morning became afternoon, as gold jumped 3.9%, materials bounced 2.9%, and consumer discretionary moved higher 2.5%.
The two laggards were energy, cratering 7.1%, and utilities, off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rocketed 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 970.52 points, or 2%, to reach noon EDT at 48,561.39.
The S&P 500 jumped 92.84 points, or 1.3%, to 7,134.12.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ hiked 396.54 points, or 1.7%, to 24,499.30.
In a post on X published Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote, “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.”
U.S. President Donald Trump had said Thursday that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, which went into effect at 5 p.m. ET that day.
Stocks in key industries vulnerable to the strait’s effective closure, such as cruise lines and airlines, rebounded. Shares of Boeing and Royal Caribbean, for instance, advanced 3% and 9%, respectively..
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 cratered $11.65 to $83.04 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $86.20 to $4,894.50 U.S. an ounce.
