TSX Approaches Record Highs Amid Diplomatic Optimism

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market, which remained closed on Monday for Civic Day Holiday, firmed up smarly Tuesday morning, catching up with previous session's rally in global markets after oil prices fell sharply amid renewed hopes about fresh negotiations between Iran and the U.S. after U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled planned military strikes on Iran.

Despite some uncertainty about Iran and the U.S. engaging in any meaningful talks to bring about a complete end to the war, there is a bit of optimism about the two countries reaching a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within the next couple of days.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which rose to 35,715.95, was up 460.14 points or 1.3% at 35,686.28 a little while ago, and looked well on course to record a new all-time high.

Riding on firm precious metals prices, materials stocks moved up north, lifting the Materials Capped Index up by about 4.7%. Technology stocks climbed higher, pushing the Information Technology Capped Index up by 4.5%. Industrials and financials stocks were the other prominent gainers.

Weighed down by weak oil prices, energy stocks fell sharply, dragging the Energy Capped index down by about 3.1%. Utilities and healthcare stocks were the other notable losers.

Americas Gold & Silver Corporation soared 14%. Aya Gold & Silver and Trekor Metals jumped 12.3% and 11.7%, respectively. Perpetua Resources, Avino Silver & Gold Mines, First Majestic Silver, Endeavour Silver Corp., Hudbay Minerals, Vizsla Sivler Corp., Discovery Mining and Eldorad Gold gained 7.5%-10%.

Tech stock Celestica zoomed 9%. Firan Technology Group surged 6.5%. BlackBerry, Constellation Software, Lightspeed Commerce, Descartes Systems Group Kinaxis, Coveo Solutions and Open Text Corporation gained 3%-4.5%.

In the financials sector, Brookfield Asset Management, Onex Corporation, Igm Financial and Brookfield Corporation climbed 4.5%-7%. Tmx Group, Sprott, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank gained 1%-2%.

In the industrials space, Mda Space flared up nearly 14%. Thomson Reuters soared 9.1%. Hammond Power Solutions, Badger Infrastructure, Aecon Group, Finning International, Bombardier and Russel Metals gained 4.5%-7.4%.

In economic news, data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI edged up to 53.5 in July from 53 in June, the highest since June 2022, defying expectations of a decline to 50.2.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the nation's trade surplus widened to $C$3.86 billion in June, from the C$3.7 billion in May to mark the largest surplus in over four years. Exports rose by 0.4% from the previous month to a record high of C$77.5 billion, while imports rose by 0.2% to a record of C$73.6 billion.