The TSX composite gained 0.76% Thursday to close at 35,200, led by mining and financial names as gold miners rallied on a softer U.S. dollar and RBC and TD Bank each advanced more than 1%. Energy names posted the sharpest individual gains on the session, with Methanex, Enerflex, Headwater Exploration, and Cenovus Energy each climbing at least 5.4%, even as the broader crude tape moved the other way. Advancers outnumbered decliners 612 to 344, with 75 issues unchanged.
Why the CAD-Sensitive Trade Moved on a Chip Story, Not an Oil Story
The mechanism behind Thursday's session sits in New York, not Calgary. Oil prices and Government of Canada bond yields eased Thursday on signs that tanker traffic continued moving through the Strait of Hormuz despite the conflict's expansion to Qatar and Jordan, and that easing rippled into a U.S. financial sector rally, with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and American Express each gaining roughly 2% to 3%. The same session saw SK Hynix price its IPO seven times oversubscribed, lifting Micron 5.2% and Sandisk 7.6% and pulling the Nasdaq up 1.3% to 26,206.89. USD/CAD eased to 1.4162, a softer U.S. dollar move tied to the chip rally and easing yields, not to any Canada-specific catalyst.
The Energy Divergence Inside the Index
Individual energy names rallying 5.4% or more while the TSX energy sub-index posted a far more modest session reflects sector rotation rather than a change in the crude outlook. WTI settled at $72.51, down $1.01 on the day, still comfortably inside the roughly $69 to $74 range that has held since late June. Gold's advance above $4,100 an ounce did the heavier lifting for the index Thursday, with First Majestic Silver, DPM Metals, and G Mining Ventures each posting gains of 8% or more on the session.
The Five-Week Range Nobody Is Talking About
Thursday's close extended a pattern that has held since the index first broke above 35,000 on June 22: a tight, 613-point band between 34,736.09 and 35,348.78 that has persisted through a signed peace deal, its collapse, and this week's expansion of the conflict to two new countries. The range has not widened as the headlines have escalated, and Thursday's close landed near the top of it.
The TSX has spent five weeks inside a 613-point band between 34,736 and 35,349, and Thursday's close landed near the top of it despite a conflict that widened to two new countries on the same day.
The index touched a five-week low of 34,736.09 on June 24 before Thursday's close landed near the top of the range. Figures are closing values from TMX Money and Canadian Press wire reports.