TSX, S&P 500 Slip at Open as Gold Drops 3% and Oil Slides

The TSX Composite opened at 35,464, down 25 points or 0.07%, while the S&P 500 slipped 3 points to 7,681 (-0.04%) and the NASDAQ shed 24 points to 26,797 (-0.09%) in the first quarter-hour of trading Tuesday morning. The broad-market losses are modest in headline terms, but the commodity complex underneath tells a more volatile story — one that is hitting Canadian resource stocks hard at the bell.

Gold and Oil Drag Materials and Energy Lower

Gold is the biggest mover of the morning, tumbling $134.20 to $4,186.70 USD per ounce (-3.11%) — equivalent to roughly $5,929 CAD/oz at the current USD/CAD rate of 1.4166. That is a significant single-session drop for the yellow metal, and it is registering immediately in TSX-listed senior and mid-tier producers. Energy is absorbing an equally punishing blow: Brent crude collapsed 8.65% to $96.17 USD per barrel, while WTI crude fell 2.40% to $90.38 USD/bbl. The divergence between Brent and WTI — a spread that has widened sharply this morning — points to a specific disruption in the international benchmark, likely tied to overnight demand revisions or a surprise inventory-related headline out of Europe or the Middle East.

Early sector scanning on the TSX shows Materials and Energy as the clear laggards in the opening 15 minutes. Gold royalty names, intermediate producers, and oilsands operators are all printing in the red on elevated volume. Any TSX-listed stock with meaningful Brent exposure — including integrated Canadian energy majors — is gapping lower at the open, with several names seeing above-average sell orders in the first few minutes of the session.

Copper Offers a Rare Green Light

Not everything is selling off. Copper is bucking the commodity selloff, rising 0.71% to $6.6125 USD per pound — a constructive signal for base metals names and a potential lifeline for diversified miners on the TSX. The move suggests industrial demand sentiment remains intact even as precious metals and crude face selling pressure. TSX-listed copper producers and copper-adjacent development-stage companies on the TSX-V are drawing early buying interest, offering a pocket of relative strength in an otherwise risk-off open.

Silver is holding relatively flat at $61.17 USD/oz (-0.08%), its resilience in contrast to gold’s sharp drop suggesting the selloff in the yellow metal may be more technically or macro-driven — perhaps a U.S. dollar strengthening event or a risk-asset unwind — rather than a broad precious metals capitulation. Traders will be watching whether gold stabilizes above $4,150 USD as the first hour progresses.

Overnight Catalysts and What to Watch

The overnight session set up a cautious tone heading into Tuesday’s open. The Brent crude crash in particular has the hallmarks of a demand-shock headline or a surprise OPEC-adjacent development that moved Asian and European markets before Toronto and New York opened. No major Canadian economic data prints are scheduled for this morning, leaving the tape largely at the mercy of commodity price action and any corporate headlines that emerge. Watch Energy and Materials sector ETFs on the TSX for confirmation of whether the opening weakness deepens or stabilizes as institutional order flow kicks in past 10:00 AM ET. Copper’s strength and silver’s steadiness could help put a floor under broader resource names if gold finds support.