Canada’s main stock index finished essentially unchanged on Friday amid light trading activity, as investors stayed on the sidelines due to persistently high oil prices and declining metal values, with the Middle East conflict showing no signs of easing.
Tensions intensified this week after Iran warned it could launch “long and painful strikes” against US positions if Washington resumed attacks, while reiterating its claim over the Strait of Hormuz. It is poetic that at the same time, Wall Street clocked out on the weekend with another historic market session, where the S&P 500 and NASDAQ beat yesterday’s all-time high again today.
| TSX | 33,891.18 | -73.15 |  |
| TSXV | 994.44 | -0.43 | |
| CSE | 183.85 | -1.24 | |
| DJIA | 49,499.27 | -152.87 | |
| NASDAQ | 25,114.44 | +222.13 |  |
| S&P 500 | 7,230.12 | +21.11 | |
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.57 cents US compared to 73.62 cents US on Thursday.
US crude futures traded US$2.52 lower at US$102.50 a barrel, and the Brent contract lost US$1.43 to US$109.00 a barrel.
The price of gold was down US$2.58 to US$4,614.25.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 228.20 points to ¥59,513.12, the Hang Seng remained at HK$25,776.53, the FTSE was down 14.89 points to ₤10,363.93, and the DAX was up 337.82 points to €24,292.38.