{"id":124913,"date":"2026-03-16T18:24:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T21:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/899855507"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T21:24:53","slug":"canada-u-s-markets-rise-as-technology-stocks-gain-ground-and-oil-prices-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/16\/canada-u-s-markets-rise-as-technology-stocks-gain-ground-and-oil-prices-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada, U.S. markets rise as technology stocks gain ground and oil prices fall"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

TORONTO \u2014 Canadian and U.S. stock markets gained ground on Wednesday as oil prices fell and tech stocks rose on both sides of the border. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be a potential bounce that we are likely seeing, but we have seen markets are continuing to remain driven by those geopolitical headlines,\u201d said Brianne Gardner, senior wealth manager of Velocity Investment Partners at Raymond James Ltd. <\/p>\n

The S&P\/TSX composite index was up 334.72 points at 32,876.65.<\/p>\n

All sectors were in positive territory on Canada\u2019s benchmark index, with technology stocks leading the gains. <\/p>\n

\u201cTech had sold off earlier during some of this geopolitical volatility, but usually when markets stabilize, I think higher beta sectors like tech do tend to bounce first,\u201d Gardner said<\/p>\n

Canadian investors also sifted through inflation figures for the month of February, which showed signs of easing. However, economists warn that price relief will be short-lived as the war in the Middle East fuels surging energy costs.<\/p>\n

Statistics Canada said Monday that February\u2019s inflation reading came in at 1.8 per cent year-over-year, half a percentage point lower than January\u2019s figures and just under economists\u2019 expectations for the month.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, that was helped largely by lower energy costs and the fading impact of last year\u2019s temporary tax break, but if we look under the surface, I think the broader trend also looks calmer,\u201d Gardner said. <\/p>\n

The tax holiday saw federal sales tax taken off a variety of household staples, gifts and dining out for a two-month period ending mid-February 2025.<\/p>\n

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 387.94 points at 46,946.41, while the S&P 500 index was up 67.19 points at 6,699.38. The Nasdaq composite was up 268.82 points at 22,374.18.<\/p>\n

One of the main drivers in the stock market on Monday was the price of oil. The April crude oil contract was down US$5.21 at US$93.50 per barrel.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reprieve, for now at least, after oil prices spiked from roughly US$70 before the United States and Israel began their attacks on Iran. In response, Iran has nearly halted traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world\u2019s oil typically sails from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That has oil producers cutting production because their crude has nowhere to go.<\/p>\n

The worry in financial markets is that if the Strait remains closed for a long time, it could keep enough oil off the market to drive inflation up to a debilitating level for the global economy.<\/p>\n

The stock market has a track record of bouncing back relatively quickly from military conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, as long as oil prices don\u2019t stay too high for too long. Many professional investors are expecting that to be the case again, which has helped keep U.S. stock prices near their record levels.<\/p>\n

Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world\u2019s move into artificial-intelligence technology, rose 1.6 per cent as its CEO, Jensen Huang, talked up the tech\u2019s possibilities at an AI conference and said he foresaw US$1 trillion in demand for AI chips through 2027. It was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500.<\/p>\n

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.13 cents US, compared with 72.91 cents US on Friday.<\/p>\n

The April gold contract was down US$59.50 at US$5,002.20 an ounce. <\/p>\n

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press. With files from The Associated Press<\/i><\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2026.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… benchmark index, with technology<\/span> stocks leading the gains.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cTech<\/span> had sold off … higher beta sectors like tech<\/span> do tend to bounce … s move into artificial-intelligence technology<\/span>, rose 1.6 per … , Jensen Huang, talked up the tech<\/span>\u00e2\u0080\u0099s possibilities at an AI …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}