Reversing the gains from yesterday's session, Canadian stocks slumped on Friday as the U.S.-China summit concluded with no announcement on a possible Chinese mediation to end the U.S.-Iran war, thereby renewing escalation concerns and leaving the Hormuz crisis unresolved.
After opening below yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded firmly negative throughout the session before settling at 33,833.35, down by 434.92 points (or 1.27%).
Three of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the energy sector leading the pack.
The much-anticipated U.S.-China summited ended in Beijing, China. U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the two-day trip where both leaders had extensive meetings on a wide range of topics to enhance bilateral trade and tech cooperation.
Earlier this week, prior to leaving for China, Trump had rejected Iran's response to a U.S.-offered peace proposal. Calling it "totally unacceptable," Trump accused Iran of "playing games."
CNN reported that displeased with Iran's improper response to U.S. calls for peace, Trump was planning to restart the military offensive against Iran. Of note, the U.S. administration announced a ceasefire to all attacks on Iran early in April, which has heled until now.
However, war tensions cooled off a bit after U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated that the U.S.-Iran negotiations were going well.
In addition, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had earlier stated that reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is more in China's interest than of the U.S. since China buys nearly 90% of Iranian oil and hence added that China will work "behind the scenes" to make that happen.
During his visit, in an interview with Fox News, Trump revealed that Xi has agreed to offer any help whatsoever to see to that the conflict ends soon. Consequently, market expectations for Chinese intervention or mediation ran high.
However, as the summit ended offering no clues on China's possible role in settling the conflict and reopen the strait, crude oil prices soared again, driving inflationary concerns higher and forcing Canadian investors to pause risky bets. Global crude oil prices have surged by more than 50% since the start of the U.S.-Iran war.
In a significant move, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a strategy intended to double Canada's electricity generation by 2050, including adjusting its clean electricity rules. The total cost is expected to top C$1 trillion but the expenditure will be distributed between the federal and provincial governments as well as private sector players.
On the economic front, data released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation revealed that housing starts in Canada jumped 17.00% to an annualized 279,300 units in April from the previous month, well above market forecasts of 240,000 units.
Data released by Statistics Canada today revealed that Canada's manufacturing sales rose 3.00% to C$73.6 billion in March, the highest since January. Sales increased in 9 of 21 subsectors, led by petroleum and coal products.
On the business front, Canadian investment management firm, Onex Corporation announced the earnings results for Q1, ending March 2026.
The reported revenue stood at USD187 million (compared to USD211 million a year before), net income at USD129 million (compared to USD 168 million a year ago), and basic Earnings Per Share from continuing operations was USD1.76 (compared to USD2.36 in the previous year).
Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Energy (2.07%), IT (0.36%), and Communication Services (0.26%).
Among the individual stocks, Strathcona Resources Ltd (6.92%), Baytex Energy Corp (4.41%), Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (4.30%), Docebo Inc (5.56%), and Shopify Inc (3.18%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Utilities (0.99%), Consumer Discretionary (1.91%), Healthcare (3.63%), and Materials (6.06%).
Among the individual stocks, Superior Plus Corp. (2.31%), Fortis Inc (1.98%), Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (11.42%), Taseko Mines Ltd (9.90%), and Aya Gold and Silver Inc (9.84%) were the notable losers.
Bird Construction Inc (14.21%) and Stantec Inc (6.49%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.