The TSX Composite fell 67.61 points Friday to close at 35,806.65, capping a week of broad-based losses on elevated volume, 1.007 billion shares traded, 185 percent above the prior sessions volume on Thursday, with decliners outnumbering advancers 1,264 to 865. The index remains below the 36,000 level and below both its 25-day and 50-day moving averages, though it holds above its 200-day average.
South of the border, the picture was more mixed. The S&P 500 added 12.74 points to 7,650.50 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 104.25 points to 26,522.55, led by chip names, AMD up 2.70 percent, Micron up 3.92 percent, Arm Holdings up 4.04 percent, Sandisk up nearly 11 percent, while the Dow slipped 95.40 points to 51,682.64. The divergence traces back to Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve raised its policy rate for the first time since 2023 under Chair Kevin Warsh, a move that weighed on rate-sensitive Dow components while leaving the AI-linked trade largely intact.
Why Energy Was the Only Winner This Week
Energy was the lone bright spot among TSX sectors on the week, up 0.71 percent even as the oil price behind it swung from the low $90s to above $102 and back down again. The move traces directly to the tanker war in the Strait of Hormuz: U.S. strikes on three Iranian oil tankers and Iranian missile strikes on two U.S. warships in a single 24-hour period earlier this month pushed WTI to a September 10 peak of $102.48, still well above where the sector was pricing energy names a month ago even after the subsequent pullback.
Utilities led all sectors at 1.62 percent, Healthcare added 1.27 percent, and Financials rose 0.78 percent, with CIBC up 1.24 percent on elevated volume. Telecommunications was the worst performer of the week at negative 2.14 percent, followed by Industrials at negative 0.97 percent.
The chart below traces the daily path of the TSX Composite through both the Hormuz escalation and the Federal Reserve decision.
The September 10 low coincided with the peak of the Hormuz tanker exchanges. The index recovered through mid-week before the Federal Reserve decision introduced fresh volatility.
The Currency and Gold Signals Underneath
The Canadian dollar slipped to 71.42 cents US Friday from 71.49 cents Thursday, pressured by the same forces working against it all month: a softer oil price, a widening Bank of Canada-Federal Reserve rate gap after the Bank held at 2.25 percent September 2 while the Fed hiked, and the ongoing tariff exchange between Ottawa and Washington. Gold moved in the opposite direction entirely, closing at a record $4,424.90 an ounce, up $25.20 on the day, as safe-haven demand absorbed both the geopolitical risk and the fresh monetary policy uncertainty in one trade.
Monday brought a fresh data point ahead of the North American open: WTI extended its decline to $94.01, a fourth consecutive lower session, on weekend reports that President Trump is open to meeting Iranian President Pezeshkian at the UN General Assembly this week. Energy names are likely to open under pressure from that move, a reminder that the sector responsible for the only sector-wide gain this week remains entirely hostage to a conflict that has not actually been resolved.