Despite an escalation in Middle East tensions following the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports on Monday, Canadian stocks began the week higher, supported by hopes of easing U.S. inflation and expectations that the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire could still prevent a wider conflict. The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed by 183 points, or 0.5%, to 33,879 — its highest closing level in more than five weeks.
On the one hand, volatile commodity prices kept shares of energy and mining companies under pressure. On the other hand, strong intraday gains in financials, consumer cyclicals, and technology stocks helped lift the broader TSX index. This divergence reflects how investors are rotating into rate-sensitive and growth-oriented sectors amid easing inflation expectations, even as commodity-linked stocks face near-term headwinds.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Keel Infrastructure, Lithium Americas, Constellation Software, and G Mining Ventures were the top-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each surging by at least 5.8%.
Open Text (TSX: OTEX) was also among the day’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as its shares rose 5.5% after the tech firm announced strategic partnerships to expand its presence in Europe’s fast-growing sovereign cloud market.
The firm teamed up with S3NS, backed by Thales and Alphabet’s Google Cloud, and also revealed plans to make its enterprise data and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions available on Amazon’s AWS European Sovereign Cloud. These initiatives are expected to help organizations manage sensitive data within strict European regulatory frameworks while still leveraging global cloud capabilities, strengthening Open Text’s positioning in secure, AI-driven data management. Despite the recent gains, however, OTEX stock is still down 32% on a year-to-date basis.
In contrast, GFL Environmental (TSX: GFL) dived by 10% after the company announced a $6.4 billion deal to acquire SECURE Waste Infrastructure, raising concerns among investors about deal size and potential integration risks. While the acquisition is expected to boost its long-term cash flow and expand GFL’s footprint in Western Canada, the largely stock-based transaction and near-term execution uncertainties appeared to weigh on investor sentiment.
Saputo, Maple Leaf Foods, and Transcontinental also slipped by at least 3.6% each, making them among the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Baytex Energy, SECURE Waste Infrastructure, Cenovus Energy, and Telus were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Crude oil prices remained largely weak in early morning trading on Tuesday, but metals prices trended higher amid easing concerns about further supply disruptions as signs of possible renewed U.S.-Iran negotiations emerged. News reports suggested that both sides may still be open to reaching a deal, with discussions continuing despite last weekend’s failed talks. Given these developments, the resource-heavy TSX index may see mixed sectoral trends at the open today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will keep a close eye on the latest wholesale inflation report from the United States this morning. The data could offer further clues on the Federal Reserve’s rate path, which has been a key driver of recent market sentiment.
Market movers on the TSX today
