04:36 PM EDT, 06/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange rose on Friday as investors assessed easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and fresh economic data that reinforced expectations for a potential Bank of Canada interest-rate cut.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 129.79 points, or 0.37%, to 34,980.00, with sectors closing mixed.

Battery Metals Index led gainers, up 1.54%, with Information and Technology, Industrials and Utilities, up 1.18%, 0.75%, and 0.58%, respectively. Health Care led decliners, down 0.97%, while Telecom, down 0.42%, Base Metals, down 0.56%, Energy, down 0.25%, and Financial, down 0.15%.

In commodities, gold remained mostly steady on Friday, rising off multi-month lows as the U.S. dollar fell off a seven-month high. The precious metal for August delivery was last seen up 1.3% to US$4,098.00 per ounce.

Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at a four-month low as ships resumed moving through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns over supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf following the outbreak of the Iran conflict on Feb. 28. WTI crude oil for August delivery closed down 3.7% to settle at US$69.23 per barrel, the lowest since Feb. 27, while August Brent crude was last seen down 4.3% to US$72.03 per barrel.

The decline came after shipping through the Strait of Hormuz resumed, a day after reports that Iran had attacked a vessel transiting the waterway in Omani waters. The incident prompted the International Maritime Organization to suspend an evacuation plan for ships stranded in the Persian Gulf. However, ships are again moving through the Strait, with hormuzstraitmonitor.com reporting 62 ships have moved out of the Gulf in the past day.

Statistics Canada said in its latest report wholesale sales are estimated to have slipped in May, partly due to weaker activity in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector. Wholesale sales, excluding oil, oil products, other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, are estimated to have fallen 0.7% month-on-month in May, StatsCan said in its advance estimate on Friday. This estimate is based on a 70.4% weighted response rate, below the 12-month average final response rate of 82.9%, added StatsCan.

On the economic front, investors also assessed fresh labor-market signals and their implications for the Bank of Canada's rate path. Rosenberg Research said Friday it does not see wage-driven inflation pressures emerging in Canada despite April's average weekly earnings rising at their fastest annual pace in 12 months, according to payroll data released Thursday.

Rosenberg pointed to the Bank of Canada's June 10 Summary of Deliberations, which said the economy remained weak, was operating with excess supply and continued to show labor market slack. "We do not fear wage-push inflation," stated Rosenberg.

The Canadian Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours (SEPH) payrolls rose by 22,000 in April, up from 5,700 in March, a solid monthly gain, pointed out Rosenberg. However, underlying labor conditions remain weak, with combined labor demand -- payrolls and vacancies -- just above zero, in line with subdued economic growth.

Against this backdrop, Rosenberg said it still views the balance of risks as tilted toward a potential Bank of Canada rate cut.

Additionally, BMO Capital Markets said that divergences in country's labor market reports were "surprising" and a reminder that one piece of data won't always capture the "complex" job market. Statistics Canada's SEPH showed jobs rose by 22,000 in April, while the Labour Force Survey posted an 18,000 decline for the same month, Senior Economist Shelly Kaushik wrote in a note.

This is "a good reminder that no one statistic or report can fully capture something as complex as the job market," said Kaushik. The divergence reflects structural differences as the SEPH counts payroll jobs excluding self-employment, while the LFS counts individuals and includes self-employed workers, according to the bank.

On the housing front, a new survey suggested affordability concerns have spread well beyond Canada's largest cities. The majority of Canadians, or 70%, consider local home prices to be high, either unreasonably or understandably so, compared with a decade ago, when opinions were more evenly split between those who viewed prices as reasonable and those who viewed them as unreasonable, the Angus Reid Institute said Friday.

Ten years ago, housing affordability was primarily an issue in Vancouver and Toronto, but it has since become a national concern, according to the survey. The most notable shift has been in previously more affordable cities such as Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax, where perceptions that homes are overvalued have increased significantly, Angus Reid said.