Canada Stocks: TSX flat as tech gains counter losses in miners; Middle East in focus

BlackBerry

04/05/2026 16:19

TSX up 0.03%

Miners fall as gold prices slip

Tech up after BlackBerry soars to one-year-high

Fairfax Financial climbs on Q1 revenue beat

Updates prices and details throughout

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

May 4 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was nearly flat on Monday, with gains in technology shares making up for losses in miners while renewed tensions between the U.S. and Iran lifted oil prices and pressured global equities.

At 10:53 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 0.03% at 33,900.92 points.

The technology index .SPTTTK rose 1.6%, with BlackBerry BB.TO soaring 8% to a more-than-one-year-high.

Heavy-weight mining stocks .GSPTTMT slipped 0.3% after gold prices fell as rising geopolitical tensions boosted the dollar and stoked concerns about inflation that kept expectations of higher interest rates alive. GOL/

Eldorado Gold ELD.TO, Aya Gold and Silver AYA.TO and Lundin Mining LUN.TO were each down between 1.6% and 2.8%.

The U.S. military said two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers had entered the Gulf to break an Iranian blockade and that two U.S. ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran said it had prevented a U.S. warship entering the Gulf.

"There’s growing concern that top-line inflation will continue to inch higher and that interest rates may move from a pause to rising later in the year, which is unsettling for rate‑sensitive investors,” said Shiraz Ahmed, founder at Sartorial Wealth.

The energy index .SPTTEN also inched higher as oil prices rose. O/R

     The benchmark index was trading about 2% below its March 2 peak, showing how the U.S.-Iran conflict has weighed on sentiment in Canada's energy‑heavy market despite some support from firm oil prices.

On the earnings front, Fairfax financial holdings FFH.TO rose 4.3% after the insurance group's first-quarter revenue grew 12.8% to $7.06 billion from a year ago and beat analyst expectations of $7 billion.

 (Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Joyjeet Das)

 ((tharuniyaa@thomsonreuters.com))