Equiities in Toronto led their American cousins across the breakeven point Monday, headed by consumer stocks.
The TSX sprinted 334.72 points, or 1%, to close Monday at 32,876.65
The dollar regained 0.18 cents to 73.10 cents U.S.
Brokerage Jefferies raised its price targets across several Canadian energy companies, including Cenovus, Suncor and Canadian Natural Resources, reflecting improved cash-flow expectations and firmer commodity assumptions.
Shares in Cenovus gained 13 cents to $31.98, while Suncor captured $1.10, or 1.3%, to $82.93, and Natural Resources gained 23 cents to $67.94
Consumer staples were also mighty, with Empire Company sprawling $1.40, or 2.9%, to $50.59, while Premium Brands pumped higher $2.49. or 2.7%, to $96.15.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Aritzia hiked $3.96, or 3.6%, to $115.00, while Restaurant Brands captured $2.34, or 2.6%, to $102.05.
Financials were also in the winners’ circle, with Fairfax Financials leaped $81.89, or 3.6%, to $2,348.66, while Bank of Montreal acquired $5.16, or 2.8%, to $191.31.
Macroeconomic news was plentiful Monday, with housing starts increasing by 0.4% in February with 256,005 units from January's 238,000.
In January, 114,415 new motor vehicles were sold in Canada, a decrease of 5.6% from January 2025. In dollar terms, sales decreased 6.1% in January 2026 compared with one year earlier. Over the same period, sales of new passenger cars fell by 18.2%, while sales of new trucks saw a smaller decline of 3.9%.
The consumer price index registered at rose 1.8% year over year in February, down from an increase of 2.3% in January. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 5.94 points to 1,012.17.
All 12 TSX subgroups improved, led by consumer staples, ahead 1.8%, consumer discretionaries, up 1.7%, and financials, charging 1.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Monday, while oil prices pulled back as Wall Street tried to recover from another losing week, with investors monitoring the latest developments of the Iran war.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 387.87 points to 46,946.74
The S&P 500 index recovered 67.19 points, or 1%, to 6,699.38.
The NASDAQ grabbed 268.82 points, or 1.2%, to 32,374.18.
Meta shares gained more than 2% on a report — which the company has called “speculative” — that it is planning to lay off more than 20% of its workforce. Additionally, Nvidia shares rose more than 1% as its GTC conference kicked off Monday.
The moves come after the S&P 500 notched its third losing week in a row and closed at its lowest level of the year on Friday.
Oil prices rallied last week, with Brent crude settling above $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022. Crude soared as traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route, has been effectively halted since the war began.
In Monday trading, WTI crude traded 4% lower at just below $95 a barrel. It traded above $100 per barrel overnight. Brent crude fell more than 1% to around $101 a barrel.
President Donald Trump ordered on Friday strikes on Iran military assets located on Kharg Island. While the attack didn’t impact oil infrastructure, Trump said the U.S. would consider hitting those structures if Iran continues to block the Strait.
Trump also told NBC over the weekend that Iran wants to make a deal, but he is not ready yet.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury climbed, lowering yields to 4.23% from Friday’s 4.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite
directions.
Oil prices slumped $5.10 to $93.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $45.40 to $5,016.3 U.S. an ounce.
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