- TSX Composite opened down 252 points (-0.70%) to 35,655, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ also falling sharply in the first 15 minutes of trade.
- Silver plunged 4.06% to $65.19/oz and copper dropped 3.35% to $6.5755/lb, making TSX materials the worst-performing sector at the open with unusually heavy volume.
- WTI crude surged 3.82% to $99.72/bbl on a large inventory drawdown report, making Canadian energy producers the lone TSX sector trading meaningfully higher.
- Gold held relatively firm at $4,405.60/oz (-0.24%), equivalent to approximately CAD $6,064/oz, with senior gold producers showing clear relative strength versus silver and copper names.
9:45 AM ET — The TSX Composite opened Thursday’s session down approximately 252 points, or 0.70%, to 35,655, while the S&P 500 shed 41 points, or 0.54%, to 7,595 in the first fifteen minutes of trade. The NASDAQ led losses among U.S. benchmarks, falling 207 points, or 0.79%, to 26,046. Risk-off sentiment moved swiftly through equity markets as a sharp commodities dislocation overnight drove institutional repositioning before the North American open.
Metals Meltdown Drags Materials Into the Red
The headline pain this morning belongs squarely to the metals complex. Silver collapsed 4.06% to $65.19 per ounce — its steepest single-session drop in months — while copper cratered 3.35% to $6.5755 per pound. For Canadian investors, those moves translate directly into heavy selling pressure across TSX-listed miners and base metals producers. Materials is the clear sector laggard in early trade, with diversified miners, silver streamers, and copper producers all opening with pronounced gaps down. Volume in the sector is running well above 30-day averages in the first ten minutes, a sign institutional sellers were positioned ahead of the bell.
Gold held up comparatively well, slipping just 0.24% to $4,405.60 per ounce (approximately CAD $6,064/oz at the current USD/CAD rate of 1.3768). Senior gold producers on the TSX are showing modest declines rather than the sharp moves seen in silver and copper names — a relative-strength signal worth watching as the session develops. The gold-silver ratio has blown out sharply this morning, a dynamic that often precedes broader industrial demand concerns.
Energy Is the Lone Bright Spot
Not everything is bleeding. WTI crude surged 3.82% to $99.72 per barrel overnight — flirting with the psychologically significant $100 level — while Brent crude jumped 3.72% to $104.98 per barrel. The catalyst: overnight reports of a larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. crude inventories combined with renewed supply disruption concerns from a key producing region. Canadian energy producers are the standout leaders in early TSX trade, with oilsands and conventional producers opening sharply higher. The energy sector is the only major TSX group trading meaningfully in the green as of 9:45 AM ET.
Tech and Financials Follow Wall Street Lower
The NASDAQ’s 0.79% drop is applying pressure on Canadian technology names, which tend to shadow U.S. tech sentiment closely in the opening minutes. Shopify and other large-cap Canadian tech constituents opened weaker, consistent with broad growth-stock selling stateside. TSX financials — the index’s largest sector weighting — are also softer, tracking the S&P 500 lower as investors digest what the commodities dislocation may signal about the broader growth outlook heading into the back half of 2026.
Early Levels to Watch
| Asset | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| TSX Composite | 35,655 | -0.70% |
| S&P 500 | 7,595 | -0.54% |
| NASDAQ | 26,046 | -0.79% |
| WTI Crude | $99.72/bbl | +3.82% |
| Gold | $4,405.60/oz | -0.24% |
| Silver | $65.19/oz | -4.06% |
| Copper | $6.5755/lb | -3.35% |
The divergence between surging oil and a cratering industrial metals complex is the defining theme of this open. Watch whether the TSX’s energy strength is enough to offset materials weakness as the session matures — and keep an eye on silver: a flush of this magnitude often either stabilizes quickly on bargain buying, or signals a deeper unwind is underway.
