Current Economics
What's changed in markets since our last update on August 3 — Bank of Canada, the Fed, and inflation data have no new updates and are not repeated below.
Published 2026-08-04 · Educational information only
Markets extended their rally into Tuesday. U.S. stocks pushed to fresh record highs as easing Middle East tensions and strong earnings lifted sentiment, while the TSX reopened after Monday's Civic Holiday closure with a sharp gain, rebounding from Friday's pullback.
Canadian markets were closed Monday for the Civic Holiday. On reopening Tuesday, the S&P/TSX Composite jumped 575.45 points (+1.63%) to close at 35,801.59, recovering from Friday's close of 35,226.14.
U.S. stocks notched fresh records Tuesday: the S&P 500 gained 1.79% to close at 7,737, the Dow surged 907 points (+1.71%) to 54,086, and the Nasdaq jumped 2.59% to 26,585. That extended Monday's rally, when the Dow rose 1.32% to 53,178, the S&P 500 gained 1.48% to 7,601, and the Nasdaq added 2.1% to 25,914 to start the month.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield eased slightly to around 4.63%–4.64%, little changed from recent sessions.
The loonie softened slightly, with USD/CAD rising to about 1.4072–1.4076 (roughly CAD/USD 0.711), up from 1.4021 at Friday's close.
Oil extended its pullback: WTI traded near US$80 a barrel and Brent eased about 2% to roughly US$82, continuing Monday's slide on reports that further U.S.-Iran strikes have been called off for now. Gold ticked up modestly to around US$4,070 an ounce.
Sentiment continued to improve on hopes for a resolution over the Strait of Hormuz and reports that Iran-linked strikes have been paused, though the situation remains fluid and could reverse quickly.
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