After four consecutive sessions of gains, Canadian stocks edged lower on Tuesday following fresh U.S. military attacks on Iran yesterday amid a ceasefire holding in place while an Iranian team is preparing in Qatar for a potential deal with the U.S.
After opening below yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded negative throughout the session before settling at 34,653.87, down by 177.02 points (or 0.51%)
Notably yesterday, the index hit a new intraday record high of 34,846.50 before giving ground to settle at 34,830.89.
Four of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the utilities sector leading the pack.
The U.S.-Israel versus Iran war is close to complete three months.
A team of high-profile politicians and senior officials from Iran landed in Qatar yesterday to discuss some sensitive issues before reaching a deal with the U.S.
Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that he was anticipating some good news on U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Over the past few days, U.S. President Donald Trump has been sending mixed signals, raising the uncertainty over peace talks. Trump stated that negotiations were proceeding well but warned of a larger-scale attack in case the war resumes.
Later, Trump claimed that negotiations were going on in a constructive and orderly manner but claimed that he had asked his team not to rush into a deal.
In addition, Trump raised a surprise demand whereby he wanted the leaders of several Arab nations to mandatorily sign on to the Abraham Accords to make the settlement with Iran historically significant and observed that he has asked his representatives to begin working on that.
Today, Trump went on to message that if a deal is reached, Iran's enriched uranium will be moved outside of Iran and destroyed, either in the U.S. or at any other place acceptable to Iran. The Iranian regime has been refusing to concede to Trump's demands on curtailing their nuclear program.
Against this backdrop, yesterday a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command Navy Captain Tim Hawkins stated that U.S. forces carried out "self-defense strikes" to protect U.S. troops from Iranian threats.
The targets included a few Iranian boats attempting to place sea mines and missile launch sites in near Bandar Abbas port city of southern Iran.
Iran called these attacks as a sign of the U.S. showing its unreliability.
Rubio today stated that peace talks are going on and stressed that a deal may take a few more days since it involves a lot of talking back and forth.
Rubio also affirmed that the currently shut Strait of Hormuz will reopen one way or other.
Through a televised written message addressed to Iranians, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamanei stated that gulf powers will no longer serve as a shield for U.S. bases and Israel will not exist in another 15 years.
New York Post reported that Trump will fly to Camp David on Wednesday to hold a cabinet meeting to discuss the next steps in the ongoing high-stakes negotiations aimed at securing a broader agreement with Iran.
All cabinet members are expected to join Trump including the outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
The talks in Qatar continued for the second day today.
Cautious optimism prevails among market participants since neither the U.S. nor Iran have quit pursuing diplomatic routes to end the hostilities, but the ongoing closure of Strait of Hormuz prevented traders from taking risky bets.
Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Utilities (0.58%), Communication Services (0.42%), Energy (0.33%), and Industrials (0.01%).
Among the individual stocks, Superior Plus Corp (6.67%), Brookfield Renewable Partners LP (4.96%), Capital Power Corporation (4.39%), Terravest Industries Inc (7.67%), Vizsla Silver Corp (6.21%), and Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (3.22%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Materials (0.91%), Healthcare (1.32%), IT (1.64%), and Consumer Staples (1.75%).
Among the individual stocks, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (2.77%), Empire Company Limited (1.21%), Docebo Inc (4.12%), Descartes Sys (3.46%), and Bausch Health Companies Inc (3.37%) were the notable losers.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.