TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index rose more than 200 points on Thursday, while U.S. markets lost ground.
Much of the gains on the TSX came from the energy sector, which benefited from rising oil prices amid worries about a potential conflict between the United States and Iran.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.25 points at 33,594.98.
The April crude oil contract was up US$1.35 at US$66.40 per barrel.
“Energy is the big sector today, that’s why the Canadian market is doing as well as it is,” said Pierre-Benoît Gauthier, vice-president of investment strategy at IG Wealth Management.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Iran, which is home to some of the world’s largest oil reserves, because of its disputed nuclear program. If a conflict were to break out, it could constrict the global flow of oil.
Gauthier said that there is an important distinction between real impacts on the energy market and moves based on sentiment. He said a conflict between the U.S. and Iran would likely have a supply impact, “but the sentiment impact right now is what’s driving up oil prices.”
Going into 2026, he said he viewed oil prices as “too cheap” based on the risk of a U.S.-Iran conflict and the outlook for global growth.
“In the end, we think we were under-representing the eventual demand for energy,” Gauthier said.
Within the TSX energy subsector, Cenovus Energy Inc. gained 4.04 per cent on the day after reporting a fourth-quarter profit of $934 million, up from $146 million a year ago.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 267.50 points at 49,395.16. The S&P 500 index was down 19.42 points at 6,861.89, while the Nasdaq composite was down 70.91 points at 22,682.73.
Some of the bigger gains in the S&P 500 came from stocks of oil companies, which climbed with the price of crude.
Investors also sifted through fresh corporate earnings in the U.S. market.
Walmart pushed and pulled on the market after jumping to an early gain of 2.7 per cent and then flipping to a loss. The retail giant delivered stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates. It finished the day with a loss of 1.4 per cent.
“They gave mid results, missed on some important parts, and still the stock is kind of holding up,” Gauthier said.
“So the overall market is not as bad as it could have been, considering how important these results felt.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.01 cents US compared with 73.11 cents US on Wednesday.
The April gold contract was down US$12.10 at US$4,997.40 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD, TSX:CVE)
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled Pierre-Benoît Gauthier’s last name.
