A Second Straight Retreat From the Record
The TSX shed 46.39 points Thursday, or 0.13 per cent, to close at 36,792.41, extending a pullback from Tuesday's record close of 36,957.63 and an intraday all-time high of 37,069.11. Wednesday had already given back 0.4 per cent, with the index closing at 36,813.65 as mining losses led the decline.
The pattern across the week is a market absorbing good news unevenly. Tuesday's record came on the back of strong Scotiabank and BMO earnings. Wednesday's pullback came from gold miners, with Agnico Eagle down 4.2 per cent, Barrick down 3.6 per cent and Wheaton Precious Metals down 4.3 per cent after gold prices slipped on a hotter than expected US inflation print that raised the odds of a Federal Reserve rate move. Thursday's retreat came from oil, not earnings, even with RBC, TD and CIBC all reporting.
Oil's Rebound Did What Strong Bank Earnings Could Not
WTI crude rose 1.8 per cent Thursday to $83.71 and Brent rose 2.3 per cent to $89.83, both rebounding sharply after falling to a near one-month low earlier in the week. The move followed the United States and Iran trading public accusations over a new round of American sanctions pressure tied to the Strait of Hormuz standoff, reviving the inflation concerns that had eased when oil was falling.
That single commodity move pressured rate-sensitive names across the index even as three of Canada's largest banks reported results that beat analyst expectations. RBC posted third quarter profit of $6 billion, up from $5.4 billion a year earlier, and still fell 1.9 per cent. CIBC beat estimates on lower than anticipated credit-loss provisions and still fell 3.8 per cent, the sharpest move among Thursday's reporters. TD was the exception, posting 38 per cent profit growth and gaining 0.8 per cent, the only one of the three bank reporters to close higher.
Ten Movers, One Trade War Backdrop
Bank and energy names moved in opposite directions Thursday, with CIBC's earnings-day decline standing out against gains in Suncor and Shopify.
Percentage changes reflect closing price moves for the ten largest TSX components by weight on August 27, 2026.
Energy names split from the financials, with Suncor up 1.2 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources up 0.5 per cent as the oil rebound flowed directly into producer share prices. Enbridge, which carries more bond-like characteristics as a pipeline operator, moved with the rate-sensitive names instead, falling 0.7 per cent. The Canadian dollar held close to 72 cents US even as oil rebounded sharply, a smaller currency reaction than the size of the commodity move would typically produce, with the broader trade war backdrop likely capping the loonie's usual correlation to crude.
The Trade War the Market Keeps Discounting
None of Thursday's moves happened in isolation from the broader picture. The TSX remains up 29.3 per cent year over year, a gain that has persisted through Washington's 50 per cent tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods since August 22 and through Ottawa's own retaliatory tariffs set to take effect September 8 on more than 700 US products. The index sitting within half a per cent of its all-time high, even after two days of pullback, is itself a market signal: nothing in this week's trading suggests the trade war has yet become the dominant driver of Canadian equity prices, even as it dominates the headlines.