Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, with strong gains in Alphabet and other heavyweights, after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested an end to the Middle East conflict could be close. Bay Street also rose, even as the energy sector and oil prices slumped.
The U.S. will be “out of Iran pretty quickly” and could return for “spot hits” if needed, Trump told Reuters, hours before he was scheduled to address the nation about the war.
“We have Trump’s comments, which tend to change a bit,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “Everybody’s trying to guess as to what he really means by what he’s saying. The markets want it to be positive, they want the war to be over.”
Technology-related heavyweights rallied, with Alphabet rising 3.4%, and Meta Platforms and Amazon each up over 1%.
Stocks have rallied for two straight days as investors speculated that the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran will end soon. Energy prices have spiked in the latest month, sparking fears of global inflation, as the conflict choked the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
With Wednesday’s gain, the S&P 500 remains down 4% so far in 2026.The index is trading at under 20 times expected earnings, its lowest earnings multiple in 10 months, according to LSEG data.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.72% to end the session at 6,575.32 points. The Nasdaq gained 1.16% to 21,840.95 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.48% to 46,565.74 points. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, slipped to its lowest in more than a week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 189.91 points, or 0.6%, at 32,957.95, marking its highest closing level since March 11.
“We continue to see some optimism that the end of the war is near,” said Angelo Kourkafas, a senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones. “The key message really is that though we remain in a highly uncertain environment, so far the data points to relatively steady economic growth ... Rising earnings also can provide support.”
ADP’s national employment report Wednesday for the U.S. showed private payrolls increased steadily in March, while retail sales increased by the most in seven months in February. U.S. manufacturing activity picked up last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge.
Nonfarm payroll figures for March will be in focus on Friday, although U.S. and Canadian markets will be closed for the Good Friday holiday.
Data on Tuesday showed Canadian GDP rose by 0.1% in January on a monthly basis, eclipsing estimates for a flat reading. An advance estimate showed the economy expanding by a further 0.2% in February.
On Wednesday, the TSX materials group, which includes metal mining shares, rose 3.1% as losses for the safe-haven U.S. dollar helped drive up the price of gold and copper.
Not all miners posted gains. Shares of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd dropped 11.6% after the company said on Tuesday an updated independent study lowered near-term production estimates for the company’s copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Both industrials and heavily weighted financials in Toronto ended 0.8% higher.
Of 10 major TSX sectors, just energy lost ground. It fell 3.8%, giving back some of its recent advance, as the price of WTI oil settled 1.2% lower at US$100.12 a barrel.
In U.S. market news, SpaceX confidentially filed for an initial public offering, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, sending space stocks higher.
Intuitive Machines gained 9%, Planet Labs rose 10% and Rocket Lab added 2%. The Destiny Tech100 investment fund, which owns SpaceX shares, jumped by 9.1%.
Eli Lilly rose 3.8% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drugmaker’s weight loss pill, to be sold under the brand name Foundayo.
Intel surged 8.8% after it said it would buy back Apollo’s stake in its Ireland factory for $14.2 billion.
Nike slumped 15.5% to its lowest in a decade after the sportswear giant forecast a surprise drop in its fourth-quarter sales.
Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.5-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 6 new highs and 12 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 63 new highs and 102 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 18.8 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 20.2 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Reuters, Globe staff