Canadian stocks moved higher on Thursday, extending the gains from yesterday's session, as traders watched the ongoing diplomatic process to end U.S.-Iran hostilities with positivity. The continuing blockade on the Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic capped the upward movement.
After opening below yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained momentum and traded positive throughout the rest of the session before settling at 34,409.49, up by 247.67 points (or 0.72%).
Nine of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the consumer discretionary sector leading the pack.
The war between the U.S.-Israeli forces versus Iran entered day number 83 today. Since the war erupted on February 28, Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz and consequently, oil and energy transit remains blocked until now.
A ceasefire was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in early April to facilitate dialogue process for halting the war but without any breakthrough.
Earlier this week, Trump announced halting a planned attack on Iran and observed that serious negotiations were going on.
To facilitate smooth exchange of communications between the two nations, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is in Iran.
Currently, Iran's Foreign Ministry is reportedly reviewing the U.S. response to its 14-point peace proposal which it sent to the U.S a few days before.
Yesterday, Trump stated that the U.S.-Iran negotiations are right on the borderline. However, adopting a conflicting stance Trump observed that the U.S. is ready to go for a war if it does not get the right answers from Iran. At the same time, he stated that a deal could happen very quickly.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency had earlier stated that the U.S. asked Iran to hand over around 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and restrict Iran's nuclear activity to a single facility.
Today, Reuters reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered that Iran's near-weapons-grade enriched uranium must remain within Iran.
The report added that Iran's establishment is of the view that moving the material abroad would leave Iran vulnerable to future attacks by the U.S. and Israel. Following this, concerns of peace talks stalling again increased.
Later, an X post from Al Jazeera reporter Ali Hashem (citing a "senior Iranian official") clarified that the reports of an Iranian decree against the transfer of high-grade uranium out of Iran are false.
The "senior Iranian official" told Hashem that Khamenei never stated that, no new order was issued, and called the report "propaganda".
Today, Trump claimed that the U.S. will get the enriched uranium from Iran and probably destroy it but will not let Iran have it. He also reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz should remain a toll-free international waterway.
On the data front, it was an uneventful day for Canada with no significant data releases.
Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Consumer Discretionary (1.56%), Utilities (1.17%), Financials (1.12%), Real Estate (0.89%), and IT (0.79%).
Among the individual stocks, Magna International Inc (4.08%), Gildan Activewear Inc (2.04%), Transalta Corporation (3.92%), Toronto-Dominion Bank (1.78%), and Intact Financial Corporation (2.24%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Energy (0.10%) and Consumer Staples (0.26%).
Among the individual stocks, Strathcona Resources Ltd (3.01%), Vermilion Energy Inc (2.31%), Headwater Exploration Inc (2.12%), and Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (1.09%) were the notable losers.
Blackberry Limited (7.87%), Energy Fuels Inc (6.86%), and Terravest Industries Inc (5.81%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
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Market Analysis
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.