U.S. and Canadian stocks ended mixed on Thursday after paring deeper losses, as diplomatic signals from the Middle East helped calm markets rattled earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of tougher action against Iran ahead of a long holiday weekend.
Investor sentiment steadied in the afternoon after Iran’s foreign ministry said it was drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and Britain said dozens of countries were discussing ways to end the crisis, easing worries about prolonged disruption to global oil flows.
Stocks had opened lower amid rising oil prices after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled more aggressive attacks, ahead of the Good Friday holiday, when markets will be closed.
While off their session highs, oil prices still ended the day sharply higher.
Front-month crude prices surged, with U.S. crude up 11% at around $111 a barrel. The international reference Brent closed up about 7% near $108. But traders priced it at about $82 per barrel in October, a signal that they expect the disruption to be temporary.
“The (stock) market has no real conviction either way right now, but October oil prices tell you the market thinks this crisis will likely be over by the fall,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Baird.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13%, to 46,504.67 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.11% to 6,582.69 points and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.18%, to 21,879.18.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE VIX index fell to 23.87 points.
For the week, the S&P 500 gained 3.36%, the Nasdaq rose 4.44%, and the Dow climbed 2.96%. The Russell 2000 small-cap index rose 3.19%.
The rebound reflected caution, with investors favouring stock segments seen as more resilient to economic stress. Utilities, which tend to offer steady earnings and dividends, rose 0.6% on Wall Street. Real estate stocks, which often benefit from steady rental income and tend to perform better when investors seek reliable cash flows in uncertain environments, advanced 1.5%.
Meanwhile, U.S. consumer discretionary stocks slid 1.5%, the worst-performing sector on the day, led by a 5.4% drop in Tesla after its first-quarter delivery figures.
Separately, private credit jitters resurfaced after Blue Owl capped the amount investors can withdraw from two of its retail-focused funds. Stocks of the firm were among the most heavily traded on the last session of the week.
Further developments on Elon Musk’s SpaceX will be in focus after it confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering on Wednesday, and is expected to target a $1.75 trillion valuation.
Friday’s nonfarm-payroll numbers will be in the spotlight after weekly jobless claims fell last week, but U.S. markets will remain closed throughout the long weekend.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 150.27 points, or 0.5%, at 33,108.22, posting its highest closing level since March 11.
For the holiday-shortened week, the TSX was up 3.6%, which was its biggest weekly gain since November.
Domestic data had little impact. Canada’s trade deficit widened to C$5.74 billion in February from an upwardly revised C$4.18 billion in the prior month as both imports and exports climbed.
Energy gained 2% in Toronto, lifting its gains since the start of the year to 38.8%. Utilities was up 1%. Technology added 1.1% and heavily weighted financials edged 0.4% higher.
Just two of 10 major TSX sectors ended lower, including materials. It dipped 0.5% as the price of gold fell 1.9%, giving back some of its gains in recent days.
Shares of Rogers Communications lost 7.9% after TD Cowen cut its rating and price target on the stock.
Reuters, Globe staff