Canada’s main stock index finished in positive territory on Thursday, while U.S. markets overcame some early losses to post mixed results and oil prices rose.
The unsettled trading followed a national address late Wednesday from U.S. President Donald Trump, where he vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East. Those comments appeared to dim the hopes for a near-term conclusion to the war that had pushed stocks higher through most the week.
John Zechner, chairman and lead equity manager at J. Zechner Associates, said the address appeared to take the market by surprise. Investors seemed to have expected it to be more conciliatory in terms of how aggressive the U.S. would be going forward.
“It really escalated the rhetoric at this point, which is not what the market had been looking for in the prior couple of days, which is why we had been rallying so strongly earlier in the week,” Zechner said.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 150.27 points at 33,108.22.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 61.07 points at 46,504.67. The S&P 500 index was up 7.37 points at 6,582.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 38.23 points at 21,879.18.
Crude oil prices have been the main force behind the sharp swings for stocks globally. Shipping traffic has been severely curtailed in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through during peacetime.
Oil prices remained elevated, though down from previous highs. The May crude oil contract was up US$11.42 at US$111.54 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped to US$109.03 per barrel.
“The only big winners today on the market are the energy stocks,” Zechner said.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. shares rose 2.34%, while Suncor Energy Inc. gained 1.58%.
He said that moves in oil prices are starting to affect U.S. crude more as WTI had been trading at a discount to Brent crude, the international standard.
Wall Street is worried that higher energy prices are adding to already stubbornly high inflation. Rising fuel prices take a bigger chunk out of consumers’ wallets in several ways.
Indirectly, rising fuel prices tend to make a wide range of services and goods more expensive. Flights become more expensive as airlines raise ticket prices to offset rising fuel costs. Consumer goods become more expensive as shipping and transportation costs rise.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.85 cents US compared with 72.00 cents US on Wednesday.
The June gold contract was down US$133.40 at US$4,679.70 an ounce.
— With files from The Associated Press