S&P/TSX composite finishes flat as oil tops US$100 per barrel, U.S. markets mixed

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index finished in negative territory after trading higher earlier in the day, while U.S. markets were mixed and oil topped US$100 per barrel.

“It’s a strange little market where it seems like dip buyers are on strike,” said Pierre-Benoît Gauthier, vice-president of investment strategy at IG Wealth Management.

“In the last couple of crises we got, it was very short-lived and strong drops followed by strong rallies, but this one looks like it’s grinding a little.”

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 25.71 points at 31,934.94

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 49.50 points at 45,216.14. The S&P 500 index was down 25.13 points at 6,343.72, while the Nasdaq composite was down 153.72 points at 20,794.64.

The mixed trading in North American stock markets followed a whirlwind of action in the war over the weekend, including an entry into the fighting by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The main issue for investors is whether oil and natural gas can resume their full flow from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide and prevent a brutal blast of inflation.

The May crude oil contract was up US$3.24 at US$102.88 per barrel.

Gauthier said the move higher in oil prices appears to be impacting sentiment in the market, saying higher prices amount to a “tax on the consumer.” However, he added that oil markets entered the year with a massive oversupply of the key commodity.

If issues regarding the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz were to be resolved, Gauthier said, “it wouldn’t take much for oil prices to go down because the natural state of the market is that oil should not be that expensive.”

Shortly before the stock market opened for trading on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media network that “great progress has been made” with “A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.”

But he also threatened the possibility of “blowing up and completely obliterating” Iranian power plants if a deal is not reached shortly and if the Strait of Hormuz, an integral waterway for the flow of oil, is not opened immediately.

All the back and forth has some investors saying they’re giving Trump’s pronouncements less weight than before.

“I think it’s fair to say that by now, the market has kind of had an overdose of the Trump rhetoric, not taking anything at face value anymore,” Gauthier said.

But stock prices are nevertheless cheaper than they were before the war, which has some investors waiting for an opportune time to buy.

The Canadian dollar traded for 71.81 cents US compared with 72.07 cents US on Friday.

The June gold contract was up US$33.20 at US$4,557.50 an ounce.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)