Equity markets in Canada’s largest centre slipped on Tuesday as investors monitored the situation in the Middle East, after Iran showed no signs of relenting to U.S. President ?Donald Trump's ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The TSX Composite Index fell 156.43 points by noon EDT Tuesday to 33,025.54.
The Canadian dollar pulled back 0.02 cents at 71.86 cents U.S.
As Trump's deadline approached, the U.S. intensified strikes on Iran, targeting Kharg Island, home to Tehran's main oil export terminal.
Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. ET - 3:30 a.m. in Tehran - to end its blockade of Gulf oil or face massive destruction of its infrastructure.
Among individual stocks, International Petroleum climbed 5.2% after BMO Capital Markets upgraded it to "outperform" from "market perform".
On the economic side, the IVEY PMI for March faltered to 49.7 in March from 56 in February, and from 51.3 in March 2025.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 22.08 points, or 2.3%, to 959.43.
All but two of the TSX subgroups were in the red in the first hour of trade, with health-care dwindling 2.4%, information technology falling 1.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks losing 1.5%.
The two gainers proved to be energy, rumbling 1.4%, while utilities added 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz approached, with hopes of an agreement fading.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 247.90 points to 46,421.98.
The S&P 500 swooned 32.9 points to 6,578.93.
The NASDAQ stepped back 162.28 points to 21,834.05.
Trump has set an 8 p.m. ET deadline for the U.S. and Iran to strike a deal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, otherwise the U.S. will destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges.
However, his latest comments and new reports suggest an agreement by then is unlikely, as he said in a Truth Social post Tuesday: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
Broadcom was a bright spot of the session, rising 3% on the heels of the company signing expanded artificial intelligence deals with Google and Anthropic.
Shares of Casey’s General Stores subtracted $1.23 to $746.54, ahead of the convenience store chain’s planned addition to the S&P 500.
The president still left room for the possibility that the U.S. wouldn’t end up attacking the Middle Eastern country after the deadline, adding that “now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”
Tensions have already been ramping up in the leadup to the deadline. The Wall Street Journal and NBC News, citing U.S. officials, reported that the U.S. carried out strikes on Kharg Island overnight.
The Wall Street Journal has also reported that negotiators aren’t optimistic a deal between the U.S. and Iran can be reached before Trump’s deadline.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 4.35% from Monday’s 4.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $2.78 to $115.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $7.10 to $4,677.60 U.S. an ounce.
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