TORONTO — Strength in technology and materials helped Canada’s main stock index close over 100 points higher Monday, while U.S. markets also saw gains amid declines in oil prices.
Stock market gains came as investors hoped for limited retaliation after U.S. strikes on Iran.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 111.79 points at 26,609.36.
Kathrin Forrest, an equity investment specialist at Capital Group, said in an interview Monday that TSX gains were mainly driven by tech and mining companies.
“The leaders there were IT, Shopify being a standout there, and then materials, most noteworthy, gold. And then within gold, that was continuing strength that we have seen year to date,” she said.
Forrest added that the TSX materials index is up about 32 per cent year to date, while the gold subindex is up around 50 per cent.
“So gold continuing to meaningfully contribute to year-to-date TSX returns, TSX overall year to date is up to 7.5 per cent,” she said.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 374.96 points at 42,581.78. The S&P 500 index was up 57.33 points at 6,025.17, while the Nasdaq composite was up 183.56 points at 19,630.98.
On Wall Street, Elon Musk’s Tesla was the single strongest force pushing the S&P 500 higher after jumping 8.2 per cent. The electric-vehicle company began a test run on Sunday of a small squad of self-driving cabs in Austin, Texas. It's something that CEO Elon Musk has long been touting and integral to Tesla's stock price being as high as it is.
Forrest said gains in U.S. markets were mainly driven by economic data that was overall supportive of the U.S. economy.
“The S&P Composite PMI, so Purchasing Manager Index ... the sub-indicies are manufacturing and services, they both came in at above 50, which means that there's ongoing positive momentum, even though it might have slowed down a little bit, but the momentum overall continues to be positive,” she said.
“So growth in the U.S. for now continues to look constructive.”
Oil typically moves higher during periods of tension in the Middle East, but the commodity bucked the trend on Monday.
The price of oil initially jumped six per cent after trading began Sunday night, a signal of rising worries as investors got their first chance to react to the U.S. bombings. But it quickly erased all those gains and swung to a sharp loss as the focus shifted from what the U.S. military did to how Iran would react.
The August crude oil contract was down US$5.33 at US$68.51, while the August gold contract was up US$9.30 at US$3,395.00 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.70 cents US compared with 72.84 cents US on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press
