Canada’s top stock index declined on Monday following an agreement between Iran and the United States to ease recent tensions in the Middle East. However, investor sentiment remained cautious amid uncertainty ahead of the USMCA review and continued weakness in precious metals.
On Sunday, a US official confirmed that Iran and the United States had agreed to resume discussions over their dispute involving the Strait of Hormuz. The development raised optimism about preserving a temporary peace arrangement that had been strained by several days of retaliatory strikes.
Meanwhile, in the United States, technology stocks attempted to recover after a challenging week. With June trading nearing its end, both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ had posted monthly declines as of Monday’s close, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to edge higher.
| TSX | 34,823.82 | -156.18 |  |
| TSXV | 891.09 | -4.75 | |
| CSE | 150.01 | -10.54 | |
| DJIA | 52,182.74 | +306.63 |  |
| NASDAQ | 25,820.14 | +522.53 | |
| S&P 500 | 7,440.43 | +86.41 | |
The Canadian dollar traded for 70.39 cents US compared to 70.50 cents US on Friday.
US crude futures traded US$1.43 higher at US$70.68 a barrel, and the Brent contract rose US$1.44 to US$73.03 a barrel.
The price of gold was down US$60.80 to US$4,020.73.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 107.23 points to ¥69,468.11, the Hang Seng was up 354.82 points to HK$23,026.68, the FTSE was down 6.47 points to ₤10,501.55, and the DAX was down 44.33 points to €24,626.89.
