Giving back ground following four consecutive sessions of gains, Canadian stocks moved lower on Wednesday as investors assessed the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz against forecasts of a delayed recovery in oil production in the gulf. In addition, traders resorted to profit-booking from the nearly 3.5% gains from the previous four sessions.
After opening a little lower than yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained early in the session but gave ground later to trade lower throughout the rest of the session before settling at 35,125.11, down by 264.47 points (or 0.75%).
Financials (0.54%) was the only one of the 11 sectors that posted gains today.
The upcoming signing of U.S.-Iran peace deal in Switzerland which will be followed by the reopening of Strait of Hormuz supported the markets for four previous sessions consecutively.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a deal with Iran was complete. In addition, Trump revoked the naval blockade he had imposed on all ships traveling to and from Iranian ports across the Strait of Hormuz.
To contain rising oil prices, as a first priority, the Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen soon after the signing ceremony, scheduled to be held in Switzerland on Friday.
All other contentious issues have been pushed to a 60-day ceasefire period during which both nations would discuss the points of disagreement.
Energy experts welcomed these developments with cautious optimism as they remain doubtful on an early resumption of oil production and a normal shipping transit in the gulf region.
Iran requires enormous money to reconstruct oil and energy installations destroyed in the 100-plus-day war.
Iran's attacks on its neighboring nations have also left many oil and energy facilities in the gulf either partially or completely damaged.
In addition, ship owners are concerned of the sea mines planted by Iran. Uncertainty prevails over the insurance premiums which climbed sharply during the war.
Today, Trump stated that the upcoming Memorandum of Understanding is not final and warned that he may recommence bombing Iran if the draft fails to meet his expectations.
The threat of a large-scale crisis if U.S. and Iran do not settle their disputes forced investors to hold back big moves.
In the U.S., citing resurgent inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve left the benchmark interest rates unchanged.
The Federal Open Market Committee maintained the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% in line with expectations of economists.
In its Summary of Economic Projections, nearly half of FOMC members supported an interest rate hike later this year.
On the data front, it was largely uneventful for Canada except for the new housing price numbers, released by Statistics Canada, which fell 0.30% month-on-month in May, after a 0.40% decrease in April, and below expectations of a 0.10% decline.
Uncertainty lingers over the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on free trade. With the July 1 deadline to extend the agreement formally for 16 years or continue under annual review not far, Canadian investors are anxious for a settlement.
Trump recently hinted that he is not keen on its renewal after calling it "irrelevant." Stakes are higher for Canadian exporters who still use this deal to bypass U.S. tariffs.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc stated that collaborative progress has been made to resolve a number of issues that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Lee Greer raised.
Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Real Estate (1.22%), IT (1.25%), Energy (1.55%), Materials (1.68%), and Industrials (2.12%).
Among the individual stocks, Mullen Group Ltd (4.99%), Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd (4.76%), Boyd Group Services Inc (4.65%), Abrasilver Resource Corp (7.88%), Lundin Mining Corp (6.11%) and Silvercorp Metals Inc (5.15%) were the notable losers.
Financials (0.54%) was the major sector that gained in today's trading.
Among the individual stocks, Great-West Lifeco Inc (3.23%), EQB Inc (2.67%), Igm Financial Inc (1.98%), IA Financial Corporation (1.86%), and Bank of Nova Scotia (1.83%) were the prominent gainers.
Gildan Activewear Inc (6.52%) and Mda Space Ltd (4.51%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.