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Commodity prices helped lift Canada’s main stock index on Thursday as U.S. markets posted mixed results.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 114.12 points at 34,850.21.
“For Canada (and) the TSX, the rise in commodity prices and precious metals specifically, is helping the index outperform U.S. equities. That is driven by some renewed geopolitical worries around the Strait of Hormuz,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones.
The August gold contract was up US$38.80 at US$4,047.60 an ounce.
At the same time, he said there is some degree of rotation happening, with money moving out of technology and into cyclical sectors like industrials.
A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the U.N.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 71.72 points at 51,920.62. The S&P 500 index was down 0.73 points at 7,357.49, while the Nasdaq composite was down 118.03 points at 25,358.60.
Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on U.S. stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.
The report said that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1 per cent last month from 3.8 per cent in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices.
“The inflation story remains … a headwind on the macro front, but the recent drop in oil prices provides, no doubt, some relief in terms of inflation expectations,” Kourkafas said.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.2 per cent to US$75.50 Thursday. But it’s still well off its highs above US$100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil.
The August crude oil contract was up US$1.58 at US$71.92 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 15.7 per cent. The maker of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267 per cent so far this year.
Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices.
Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15 per cent to 20 per cent for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock slumped 6.1 per cent and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
Kourkafas said he thinks the fundamental backdrop remains positive.
“As I look at the last couple of weeks, some of the rotation that we’re seeing in tech names, markets are probably transitioning from narrow to broader leadership, from low to more normal volatility, and from some momentum-driven gains to a more balanced environment,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 70.40 cents US compared with 70.25 cents US on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press
Companies in this story: (TSX: GSPTSE, TSX: CADUSD, TSX: BB)
Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press
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