Relief rally

Melisa R. H. Posted On March 23, 2026

Markets surged on Monday after Trump claimed that the U.S. and Iran were holding “constructive talks” surrounding the war. However, Iran denies any such talks and insists Trump is actually backing down from his threat of bombing that country’s infrastructure. Whatever the truth, investors reacted optimistically, pushing the S&P 1.15% higher, the Nasdaq 1.38%, the Dow 1.39% or more than 600 points, and the TSX 1.85%. Silver jumped 1.85% to US$68.95, but gold sank 1.78% to US$4,410 and WTI oil tumbled nearly 10% to US$88.80.

In Toronto, only energy and one other sector declined while materials, tech and staples notched outsized gains. New Gold rallied 3.31%, Americas 9.49%, and Boralex 8.62% but Whitecap Resources slipped 2.48% and Transcontinental cratered 79.36% after several analyst downgrades. In New York, Albemarle surged 6.93%, Palantir 6.74%, Carvana 6.51%, Super Micro Computer 5.11% while Estee Lauder fell 7.72%. Bitcoin rebounded 3.75% to US$70,740 while the U.S. 10-year yield ticked down to 4.35%.