Canada's main stock index rose sharply 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 294.06 points to conclude Friday at 34,345.29. On the week, the index ballooned 1,238 points, or 3.7%.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.08 cents at 73.06 cents U.S.
Miners including Avino Silver and Gold Mines and NovaGold Resources were ?among the top gainers. Avino triumphed 78 cents, or 7.9%, to $10.62, while NovaGold captured $1.10, or 7.9%, to $14.97.
Vermilion Energy ditched $1.34, or 7.9% to $15.74, Canadian Natural Resources went south $4.87, or 7.7%, to $58.61, and Baytex Energy let go of 5.7%, to $5.58.
In the tech realm, Celestica bounced $17.77, or 3.4%, to $5.42, while Docebo prospered 65 cents, or 2.9%, to $22.86.
Utilities settled, as Transalta Corp. dipped $1.13, or 6.1%, to $17.36, while Northland Power fell 69 cents, or 3%, to $22.21.
Telecoms were also in the red, with Quebecor listing lower by 63 cents, or 1.1%, to $56.44, while BCE sagged 13 cents to $33.01.
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, 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 11.32 points, or 1.1%, to conclude Friday at 1,054.91. On the week, the index jumped 62.19 points, or 6.27%.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were stronger Friday, as gold jumped 3.3%, materials bounced 2.2%, and information technology moved higher 2.1%.
The three laggards were energy, dwindling 5.1%, utilities, off 0.5%, and telecoms, tailing off 0.4%.
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 869.20 points, or 1.8%, to finish the day and the week at 49,447.92.
The S&P 500 jumped 84.76 points, or 1.2%, to 7,126.04.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ hiked 365.78 points, or 1.5%, to 24,469.48.
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 (sic) of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.”
U.S. President Donald Trump 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, for instance, picked up 3%, and Royal Caribbean, 8%, 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 propelled stocks to record highs this week, with the three major averages all pacing for solid gains in the period. The blue-chip Dow added 6%, while the S&P 500 rose 8% and the NASDAQ flew 11%.
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 $9.87 to $84.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $69.10 to $4,877.20 U.S. an ounce.
