Canadian and U.S. stock markets surged as oil prices plunged below US$95 per barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back from his threat to destroy Iran.
The S&P 500 leaped 2.5% after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, less than 90 minutes before a deadline he had set for the country to open the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf.
“The market was getting a little oversold, so it was looking for probably any sort of good news for an excuse to pop,” said Jillian Bryan, senior investment advisor and senior portfolio manager at TD Wealth.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 383.05 points at 33,620.57.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1,325.46 points at 47,909.92. The S&P 500 index was up 165.96 points at 6,782.81, while the Nasdaq composite was up 617.14 points at 22,634.99.
She said the announcement of a ceasefire spurred enthusiasm in the market, but more recent developments made for a less clear picture.
The United States demanded Wednesday that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic closed the waterway in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
Stock prices are still below where they were before the war.
But moves in the market have not all been negative so far this year, Bryan said.
“I think a lot of clients have had this perception that this year has been a very bad year in the market, but really for Canadian investors, it has not really been that bad,” she said.
Some of the euphoria that launched explosive moves for stock and oil prices early Wednesday faded as the day progressed, and financial markets have been prone to sharp and sudden reversals because of deep uncertainty about what will happen next in the war.
Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp., said earlier in the day that the gains were a “geopolitical relief rally,” with the ceasefire quelling some of the fears investors had related to oil shocks and inflation.
The May crude oil contract was down US$18.54 at US$94.41 per barrel.
The next moves for oil prices will depend on how many oil tankers can start exiting the strait and how easy their passage is.
The June gold contract was up US$92.50 at US$4,777.20 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.20 cents US compared with 71.91 cents US on Tuesday.
— With files from The Associated Press