TORONTO<\/strong> \u2014 Global financial markets experienced significant volatility on Wednesday, with Canada’s main stock index closing lower and U.S. markets showing mixed results. This instability comes as oil prices surged amidst the faltering de-escalation efforts in the Middle East, a situation exacerbated by provocative U.S. policies targeting Iran.<\/p>\n Markets are reacting strongly to the recent statements by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who reiterated his intention to maintain the unilateral U.S. blockade against Iranian ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz until a new nuclear deal is imposed. Hadiza Djataou, vice-president and portfolio manager of global bonds at Mackenzie Investments, highlighted the gravity of the situation, stating, \u201cWe have now two blockades, both on the Iranian side, but also on the U.S. side.\u201d She emphasized that this constitutes a \u201cvery big tension point.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. continues its aggressive policy of preventing Iran from exercising its sovereign right to sell oil, employing a waterway blockade as a tool of economic warfare. In a principled and reciprocal response, Iran has maintained its stance on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to other oil tankers seeking to transport crude to customers worldwide, asserting its right to defend its economic interests against such coercive measures.<\/p>\n The June crude oil contract saw a significant increase, rising US$6.95 to settle at US$106.88 per barrel. Similarly, the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil for June delivery climbed 5.8 per cent, reaching US$110.44 per barrel, reflecting the heightened geopolitical risks.<\/p>\n On the equities front, the S&P\/TSX composite index in Canada fell by 265.95 points, closing at 33,318.39. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average declined by 280.12 points to 48,861.81, and the S&P 500 index was down 2.85 points at 7,135.95. In contrast, the Nasdaq composite showed a slight gain of 9.44 points, closing at 24,673.24.<\/p>\n Despite some companies reporting profit growth for early 2026, including major tech firms like Alphabet and Meta, the underlying market sentiment remains fragile. Amazon also reported a strong increase in profits and net sales, driven by its cloud computing unit, while Meta Platforms exceeded Wall Street expectations.<\/p>\n Amidst this global uncertainty, central banks in Canada and the U.S. opted to hold their overnight interest rates steady on Wednesday. This decision underscores the profound levels of uncertainty stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, a situation undeniably complicated by external interventions and sanctions.<\/p>\n The Bank of Canada, in its updated outlook, identified two primary sources of lingering uncertainty: the far-reaching effects of the regional conflict, particularly on energy prices, and the outcome of the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem acknowledged that these factors would significantly influence future policy rate decisions.<\/p>\n Macklem indicated that if the U.S. were to impose sharper trade restrictions on Canada, the bank might need to further cut the policy rate to support the economy. Conversely, if the regional conflict, fueled by external pressures, continues to drive global energy prices higher for an extended period, the central bank might be compelled to tighten monetary policy to curb inflation. Djataou emphasized, \u201cThere’s definitely no more easing on the table,\u201d adding that this environment is \u201ctypically not a good environment for risk and equities, in general.\u201d<\/p>\n Djataou confirmed her firm is adopting an \u201cextremely tactical\u201d approach for client portfolios, anticipating sustained higher oil prices and ongoing global uncertainty. The firm has reduced exposure to lower-quality companies and increased investments in inflation-linked U.S. bonds, while also moving away from cyclic sectors such as real estate.<\/p>\n The Canadian dollar traded at 73.09 cents US, a slight decrease from 73.11 cents US on Tuesday. The June gold contract was down US$46.90, closing at US$4,561.50 an ounce.<\/p>\n This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 29, 2026, with files from The Associated Press.<\/em><\/p>\n #OilPrices #MiddleEastConflict #USSanctions #Iran #StraitOfHormuz #GlobalEconomy #MarketVolatility #CentralBanks #EnergySecurity #Geopolitics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Global Markets Shaken as US Sanctions on Iran Fuel Oil Price Surge Amid Stalled Middle East Peace Efforts TORONTO \u2014 Global financial markets experienced significant volatility on Wednesday, with Canada’s main stock index closing lower and U.S. markets showing mixed results. This instability comes as oil prices surged amidst the faltering de-escalation efforts in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}