The Toronto Stock Exchange jumped 316 points at midday, after Iran re-opened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic as ceasefire negotiations continue.
Energy is the worst performer, down 6.8%. Crude oil is down near 12% to US$81.98 after Iran this morning reopened the Strait of Hormuz, freeing tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf and ending a supply shock that sent prices to four-year highs.
The best performers are info tech (+2.4%) and financials (+1.7%).
Canadian housing starts fell to 235.9k annualized units in March, down 6% month-on-month (m/m). Meanwhile, the six-month moving average of starts dropped 3% m/m to 248.4k units in March. March's decline was concentrated in the multi-family sector, with urban starts down 7% m/m to 184.9k units. Urban single-detached starts dropped 2% m/m to 39.1k units. Declines were broad-based regionally, with urban starts down in 8 of 10 provinces.
As anticipated, TD Economics said, the "volatile" starts data pulled back in March after the prior month's gain. For the first quarter overall, housing starts were down 6% (not annualized), signaling that they will likely weigh on Q1 residential investment and overall GDP growth, the bank added.
"On a trend basis starts are well down from their September 2025 high. This downtrend should be sustained through the remainder of this year amid soft population growth, elevated unsold inventories, and weak past pre-sales activity key markets like the GTA. Upcoming government policies to remove the GST/HST on new homes and reduce development charges in Ontario should spur demand for newly built housing. However, some of the lift to starts from these policies could come after this year, given typical lags between pre-sales and starts," TD added.