Canadian stocks posted marginal gains on Monday as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump's reassurance on U.S.-Iran peace talks along with reports of Iran's preparations for a prolonged war with Israel.
After opening higher than Friday's session, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained momentum early in the session but gave ground later. The index still managed to trade positive throughout the session before settling at 34,478.52, up by 65.07 points (or 0.19%).
Four of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the energy sector leading the pack.
The U.S.-Israel versus Iran war entered day number 101 today.
On Wednesday, mediated by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a ceasefire, bringing an end to a conflict running for several years.
Last week, Trump reassured that the talks with Iran were progressing well and he predicted that a deal could happen over the weekend.
However, after reports of Israel launching attacks on southern Lebanon emerged, Iran warned Israel against violating the ceasefire.
On Sunday, Iran conducted a series of attacks on Israel though no casualties were reported.
Trump intervened asking Israel not to retaliate but Israel went ahead and struck western and central Iran.
Publicly calling both countries to stop attacking each other, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the strikes.
Later, both nations announced the cessation of attacks though Iran warned resumption of strikes if Israel renews attacking Lebanon.
Today, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted via Truth Social that final negotiations on U.S.-Iran peace talks are proceeding and that he expected things to move quickly.
However, Trump asserted that the naval blockade on Iranian ports enforced by U.S. Navy will remain in place until an agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, quoting a top military source, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran has made full preparations for a prolonged war with Israel and for striking the U.S. assets in the region.
The source also confirmed that sufficient and necessary measures have been fully put in place to confront such a scenario.
The Bank of Canada is expected to announce its interest rates on June 10 after its monetary policy meeting. In its April month's meeting, the central bank held the policy rate at 2.25%.
Last month, the Gross Domestic Product numbers revealed by Statistics Canada indicated that the country is in a "technical recession", meeting the definition of two quarterly contractions in a row.
On Friday, the national unemployment rate fell to 6.60% for the month of May, down from 6.90% in April.
Employment in Canada rose by 88,000 in May, a 0.40% increase from April, well above market expectations for a gain of 10,000.
Economists currently expect the BoC to hold its benchmark interest rate steady for the fifth straight time.
Canada is stepping up its efforts for a amicable deal with the U.S. on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on free trade which is up for renewal by July 1.
While the U.S. has commenced talks with Mexico, Canada has been frozen out.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is flying to Washington to meet U.S. officials to move for stronger collaboration with the U.S.
Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Energy (1.63%), IT (0.88%), Financials (0.42%), and Materials (0.03%).
Among the individual stocks, Birchcliff Energy Ltd (6.97%), Headwater Exploration Inc (4.25%), Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd (4.06%), Tecsys Inc (4.78%), and Celestica Inc (3.80%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Consumer Discretionary (0.50%), Real Estate (0.55%), Utilities (0.83%), Consumer Staples (1.32%), and Healthcare (2.27%).
Among the individual stocks, Bausch Health Companies Inc (4.41%), Curaleaf Holdings Inc (3.76%), Saputo Inc (3.64%), AltaGas Ltd (1.92%), and Altus Group Limited (1.55%) were the notable losers.
Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd (5.73%) and 5N Plus Inc (4.58%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
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Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.