TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index climbed on Monday, helped by gains in the energy sector, while U.S. markets were negative.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 77.10 points at 36,458.33. Oil prices rose on uncertainty about when the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and get the global flow of crude going again.
“That’s really the main story of the market today: it’s the oil price and how it feeds into inflation expectations and how it feeds into interest rates over the medium and longer term,” said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp.
The September crude oil contract was up US$3.95 at US$82.13 per barrel.
“If you’re an investor, you’re looking beyond the potential delay in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but you’re thinking more along the lines of, ‘How does this move oil prices, how does it impact inflation expectations, and what’s the impact on bond yields?’”
Meanwhile, on the losing end of the trading day was Barrick Mining Corp., which fell 6.45 per cent after the company reported its latest financial results.
“It’s not the gold price that’s hurting them; it’s the fact that there’s cost inflation, including higher energy prices, that’s hurting them. The revenue line is OK, but their margins have been squeezed so they’re not as profitable because their costs went up,” Chopra said.
Étienne Bergeron, an economist at iA Financial Group, said in a statement that he expects some “noise” this week regarding trade relations between Canada and the U.S. as 50 per cent tariffs threatened by the White House are set to take effect on Aug. 19.
“Our read on the economics hasn’t changed: the direct hit is limited, and it is a negotiating lever. The real cost is the return of uncertainty, but even then Canadian businesses have started to get used to lingering tensions,” he said.
“We would not be surprised if the deadline is pushed as negotiations make progress — a recurring pattern under President Trump.”
Meanwhile, Ottawa plans to slash the cost of shipping steel domestically over the next year in a bid to help Canadian producers hit hard by tariffs.
Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon was in Hamilton, Ont., on Monday to announce a $100-million rebate plan to cover half of the freight costs for sending eligible steel products across the country by rail or ship.
Shares of Algoma Steel Inc. rose 8.98 per cent.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 60.95 points at 53,975.98. The S&P 500 index was down 4.53 points at 7,753.11, while the Nasdaq composite was down 85.26 points at 26,605.36.
Momentum is slowing for U.S. stocks following a rally powered by soaring profits for big U.S. companies. Reports are on track to show earnings per share for companies in the S&P 500 were 50 per cent higher in the spring from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would be the best growth since five years ago, when the economy was roaring out of the chasm created by COVID-19
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.73 cents US compared with 71.72 cents US on Friday.
The December gold contract was up US$20.00 at US$4,419.70 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2026.
—With files from The Associated Press
Companies in this story: (TSX: GSPTSE, TSX: CADUSD, TSX: ASTL, TSX: ABX)