Canada Stocks: Financials, miners drag TSX lower amid Middle East escalation signs

Coveo Solutions

01/06/2026 15:29

TSX falls 0.3% 
Energy stocks jump as crude oil prices rise 
Lender CIBC falls after brokerage downgrade
Updates prices throughout, adds details and analyst comment

    June 1 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, bogged down by losses in heavyweight financials and mining stocks, as signs of escalation in the Middle East conflict hit risk appetite and sent oil prices surging. 
At 10:06 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE was down 0.3% at 34,668.78 points, down about 0.4% from its all-time high seen last week. 

        Materials .GSPTTMT dropped 3.4%, with gold miners including IAMGOLD IMG.TO and Equinox Gold EQX.TO leading losses as bullion prices dropped more than 1%. 

        Financials .SPTTFS shed 0.3%; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM.TO fell 1.9% after Scotiabank downgraded its rating to "sector perform" from "sector outperform." 
      

        Information technology .SPTTTK jumped 2.8%, with software-related firm Coveo CVO.TO leading gains, in line with a rally of software stocks on Wall Street. 

        Energy .SPTTEN climbed 3%, as 
        crude oil prices
         jumped after Iran and the U.S. traded strikes and Israel ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in its battle with the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
      

        Risk sentiment remained shaky as Iran's 
        Tasnim news agency
         said Tehran's negotiating team is stopping exchanges of messages with the U.S. through mediators due to the attacks on Lebanon. 
      

        "Markets had been trading on optimism that an agreement would be reached by the end of last week," John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics, said in a note.
      

        The benchmark TSX clocked a second straight monthly gain in May, with the index hovering near its all-time highs despite Monday's losses. 
      

        Meanwhile, data showed Canada's 
        manufacturing sector
         expanded for a second straight month in May as the potential for higher prices and product shortages due to the Middle East war likely boosted client demand.
      
     

 (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
 ((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))