Canadian stocks changed little on Monday after the U.S. seizure of an Iranian vessel threatened the ongoing two-week ceasefire, triggering renewed war concerns in the gulf and driving crude oil supply disruption concerns.
After opening below the previous week's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index regained ground early in the session but quickly lost the momentum. The index traded modestly lower for much of the day before gaining towards the end of the session and settling at 34,360.03, up by 13.74 points (or 0.04%).
Six of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the healthcare sector leading the pack.
The Middle East conflict took different turns over the past few days, leading to a surge in oil prices today.
The two-week ceasefire, which U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier this month, is set to lapse on April 22.
To utilize this period to find ways to chart a course for peace talks in future, a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance met its Iranian counterparts in Islamabad, Pakistan. However, the negotiations did not yield any breakthrough with Trump calling the meet "a failure".
Quickly, Trump ordered U.S. naval forces stationed near Iran to block all vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports in an effort to cripple Iran's economy (which is largely dependent on oil exports), and thereby compel the nation to agree to U.S. terms and conditions.
In retaliation, Iran tightened its control over the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, oil and energy carrying ships remained stranded at sea.
This weekend, Trump confirmed a second round of negotiations with Iran with a team headed by Vance heading to Pakistan on Monday, renewing expectations of a resolution to the crisis in the near-term.
Shipping analytics firm Kpler stated that over 20 vessels passed through the strait on Saturday.
However, yesterday, Trump announced via Truth Social that U.S. naval forces seized an Iran-flagged vessel, Touska, that did not respond to "fair warning calls" to halt.
Accusing U.S. forces of attacking and boarding its ship, Iran called it a blatant act of violation of the proclaimed ceasefire and vowed a fitting response.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump reaffirmed that an agreement with Iran could be signed today. ABC News quoted Trump as stating that a deal with Iran will happen one way or another.
Trump also threatened Iran to soon come to a deal with the U.S., failing which U.S. forces would destroy Iranian bridges and power plants.
However, uncertainty remains on when the negotiations will happen as Iran has not yet confirmed sending its delegation, adding that the U.S. is placing "excessive demands," while Reuters cited an anonymous source confirming that Vance is yet to depart for Pakistan.
Reuters and the New York Post separately quoted anonymous Iranian officials as stating that Iran is considering attending the talks.
Data released by Statistics Canada today revealed that inflation came in a bit cooler than expected.
The headline inflation rate in Canada soared to 2.40% in March from 1.80% of the previous month, below expectations of 2.50%. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.90% in March over the previous month.
Canada's annual core inflation increased to 2.50% in March, while core prices increased by 0.20%.
Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Healthcare (2.85%), IT (1.58%), Energy (0.76%), and Consumer Staples (0.61%).
Among the individual stocks, Curaleaf Holdings Inc (11.23%), Blackberry Limited (13.12%), Docebo Inc (2.96%), and Parex Resources Inc (5.52%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Materials (1.36%), Real Estate (1.13%), Communication Services (0.49%), and Utilities (0.44%).
Among the individual stocks, Montage Gold Corp (4.99%), Discovery Silver Corp (4.40%), Telus Corporation (0.88%), and Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp (1.49%) were the notable losers.
Superior Plus Corp (13.69%) and Blackberry Limited (13.12%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.