Oil Craters, Wall Street Rallies — TSX Sits Out Civic Holiday

 

Monday, August 3, 2026

Markets snapshot for Monday, August 3, 2026 — Canadian markets are closed today for the Civic Holiday, so today's brief covers the last TSX close, live US/European/Asian action, and commodities and currency moves you'll want to know before Tuesday's reopen.

🇨🇦 Canadian Markets — Closed for Civic Holiday

The Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange, and the Montreal Exchange are closed today for the Civic Holiday and will reopen Tuesday, August 4. Here's where things stood heading into the long weekend:

Index (Friday, July 31 close)	Level	Change
S&P/TSX Composite	35,226.14	▼ 279.66 (-0.79%)

Friday's pullback came courtesy of weakness in mining and technology names: gold miners slid as bullion cooled and long-term U.S. yields rose (Agnico Eagle -3.6%, Barrick -2.5%), while Shopify (-4.3%) and Celestica (-6%) dragged on tech ahead of Shopify's Q2 earnings on August 5. Telus also weighed on the index. The pullback snapped a run that had included a fresh record close of 35,749.70 earlier in the week.

🇺🇸 U.S. Markets — Futures Higher on Cooling Mideast Tensions

U.S. stock futures are climbing this morning. Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are all pointed higher after President Trump halted a planned military strike on Iran over the weekend, sending oil sharply lower and lifting risk appetite heading into a packed earnings week.

• Bristol Myers Squibb jumped as much as 8% on reports of preliminary merger talks with AstraZeneca that could create a roughly $400 billion pharmaceutical giant.
• Intel traded near $90 after posting a 61.3% year-over-year jump in server revenue, with average selling prices up 48% and Data Center/AI segment revenue climbing 59%.
• Palantir and other AI names advanced ahead of this week's earnings, while Micron slipped on competition concerns.
• Friday's close: Dow 52,485.03 (+277 pts), S&P 500 7,489.72, Nasdaq 25,373.85 — with Amazon (+15.6%) and Alphabet (+7.1%) leading gains after strong cloud results, while Apple fell after weak guidance despite beating estimates.

It's a heavy data-and-earnings week: today brings the ISM Manufacturing PMI and construction spending, with Clorox, Palantir, ON Semiconductor, Marriott, and Tyson Foods reporting. AMD, Prudential, and Booking Holdings report Tuesday.

🌍 Europe & Asia

Europe: Shares opened higher across the continent on the same Iran de-escalation headlines lifting Wall Street futures, with industrials, airlines, and consumer names benefiting most from cheaper oil. The one exception is London: the FTSE 100 is underperforming after AstraZeneca shares fell more than 6% on the Bristol Myers merger talk news, a heavy drag given AstraZeneca's index weight. Germany's DAX and France's CAC are firmer.

Asia: A mixed session overnight. Australia's ASX 200 slipped 0.18% to 8,960.8, while South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei were choppy after last week's wild swings in Korean chip stocks. Hong Kong drew attention as it launched the first offshore five-year Chinese government bond futures.

🛢️ Commodities & Currency

Commodity / Currency	Level	Change
Brent Crude	$83.77 US/bbl	▼ 5.7%
WTI Crude	$79.77 US/bbl	▼ 5.9%
Gold	$4,068 US/oz	▲ 0.5%
Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD)	~1.402	little changed

Oil is the story of the day: both benchmarks tumbled after Trump called off a planned strike on Iran, with Saudi Arabia and other regional allies reportedly pushing for renewed diplomacy over a military escalation. That's a sharp reversal from the spikes above $95-100 Brent seen just a week ago. Gold is edging higher despite the calmer mood, still supported by the Fed's hawkish 9-3 hold last week. The loonie is holding steady near 1.402 per U.S. dollar, having pulled back from last week's weaker levels.

💰 What It Means for You

• At the pump: If the oil pullback holds, expect gas prices to keep easing over the next week or two — good timing for anyone driving over the long weekend.
• RRSP/TFSA holders: The Bristol Myers-AstraZeneca talks are a reminder that pharma and healthcare names can move fast on M&A headlines — if you hold either stock or a healthcare ETF, expect volatility until a deal (if any) is confirmed.
• Mortgage watchers: With the TSX closed and U.S. futures calm, there's little new here for Canadian bond yields today — but Friday's mixed Fed signals still point to the fixed-variable rate gap staying wide ahead of the Bank of Canada's September 2 decision.
• Cross-border shoppers/travellers: The loonie's stability near 1.40-1.41 means U.S. purchases and travel costs are roughly where they were last week — no meaningful relief yet.

👀 What to Watch This Week

• Tuesday, Aug 4: TSX reopens; JOLTS job openings; AMD and Booking Holdings earnings.
• Wednesday-Friday: A wave of Big Tech and industrial earnings continues, with roughly 300 of the S&P 500's companies already reporting and 85% beating estimates so far this season.
• Ongoing: Watch for any confirmation (or denial) of the Bristol Myers-AstraZeneca talks, continued Iran diplomacy headlines, and the countdown to the August 19 U.S. tariff deadline on Canadian goods.
• September 2: Bank of Canada's next rate decision.

Market data as of the morning of August 3, 2026 and subject to change. This article is for general information only and is not investment advice.