Canadian Stocks Soar As Prospects Of U.S.-Iran Agreement Appear Brighter

Summary

(RTTNews) - Rebounding from yesterday's slide, Canadian stocks surged on Wednesday as reports indicate that the U.S. and Iran are closing in on an agreement to discuss ways to end the gulf war permanently. After opening well above yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded positive throughout the rest of the session before settling at 33,981.82, up by 414.91 points (or 1.24%). Seven of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the materials sector leading the pack. The conflict between the U.S. and Iran that began on February 28, currently under ceasefire for an indefinite period, has left the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut. After a few days into war, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade on all ships trying to enter in or exit from Iranian ports across the Strait of Hormuz to force Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. The strait remains closed, keeping crude oil prices elevated due to the supply disruption. On Monday, Trump announced Project Freedom, an initiative to protect and safely escort the stranded ships, out of the region. So far, the U.S. Navy guided three ships to exit the waterway. Trump announced that he is halting Project Freedom at the request of Pakistan and other nations since the peace talks between the U.S. and Iranian negotiators were making good progress though he stressed that the naval blockade on Iran will continue. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that the military offensive on Iran has ended. Axios reported that the U.S. and Iran are close to agreeing on a 14-point, one-page Memorandum of Understanding which would allow a 30-day time period to arrive at a framework for designing future negotiations. This report by Axios was later confirmed by Reuters. CNBC stated that Iran is currently reviewing the new one-page proposal. Trump warned that if Iran fails to reach an agreement, the U.S. would restart bombing Iran. Following these events, oil prices fell sharply as expectations of the resumption of traffic through the strait increased, boosting investor sentiments. On the economic front, it was an uneventful day for Canada with no significant data releases. Canadian investors are also awaiting some breakthrough news on the talks ahead of renewal of the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement. Prime Minister Mark Carney affirmed that Canada will not use energy or critical minerals as a leverage in the upcoming talks on the continental free-trade pact with the U.S. administration. Carney added that he feels that most of the trade pact will survive its upcoming renewal process. Yesterday, data from Statistics Canada showed a 8.50% rise in total exports to $72.80 billion in March, the highest since January, which came after the Canadian economy sank into a $5.10 billion trade deficit in February, primarily due to exports of metallic and non-metallic mineral products. The trade surplus stood at $1.80 billion. Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Materials (6.50%), Healthcare (1.68%), Financials (1.51%), Industrials (1.21%), and Real Estate (1.12%). Among the individual stocks, Sprott Inc (19.77%), Americas Gold and Silver Corporation (17.48%), Ssr Mining Inc (15.65%), Iamgold Corp (13.85%), Novagold Res Inc (13.68%), and Curaleaf Holdings Inc (9.51%) were the prominent gainers. Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Utilities (0.37%), IT (1.30%), Consumer Staples (2.11%), and Energy (4.96%). Among the individual stocks, AltaGas Ltd (2.38%), Fortis Inc (2.18%), Superior Plus Corp (2.01%), and Vermilion Energy Inc (12.93%) were the notable losers. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.