Investing.com – Canada’s main stock index were subdued on Wednesday, with traders taking note of developments in the Iran conflict and preparing for monthly U.S. inflation data.
The S&P/TSX Composite index was down 0.47% at 33,114.58.
Traders have been keeping close tabs on the rapidly-evolving joint U.S. and Israeli assault on Iran, which has threatened to cause a disruption to global oil supply flows that could weigh on growth in countries around the world.
Reactions to news out of the Middle East has fueled wild swings in oil prices this week, leaving sentiment around the commodities-heavy TSX on edge.
On Tuesday, index gained 0.3% to end at 33,270.65. An uptick in metal mining shares, buoyed by firmer prices during the session, helped offset a drop in energy stocks following a slide in oil prices.
U.S. stocks slip
The benchmark S&P 500 index slipped 0.3% to 6,762.75 points, the tech-heavy shed 0.1% to 22,676.29 points, and the blue-chip was down 0.9% to 47,284.53 points
The main averages on Wall Street notched a mixed close in the prior session. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and benchmark S&P 500 both declined marginally, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eked out a positive close.
Markets were eyeing a Wall Street Journal report that the International Energy Agency has proposed the biggest-ever release of strategic oil reserves to help quell recent ructions in oil prices caused by the Iran war.
Brent futures, the global benchmark, were last exchanging hands up 3.1% at $90.53 a barrel, after having surged to $120 a barrel earlier this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, meanwhile, were 3.3% higher at $86.17 a barrel.
Citing officials familiar with the matter, the WSJ said the release would surpass the 182 million barrels of oil that IEA member nations made available after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. IEA countries are seen deciding on the proposal on Wednesday, the WSJ said.
Depending on the size of the reserve release, there could be some capping in oil prices in the coming days, analysts at ING said. However, they flagged that the release would be a “temporary measure,” adding that “only military de-escalation can drive crude sustainably lower.” The IEA’s move might be sending a “hidden signal” to markets that there are few expectations for an immediate ceasefire, they added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to ramp up American attacks on Iran after reports said that Tehran has placed naval mines across the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.
Following a CNN report that Iran had put mines in the bottleneck, although not extensively yet, Trump said on Tuesday that Iran would be hit “at a level never seen before” should the Islamic Republic not remove them.
“The geopolitical risk premium in oil has produced extraordinary volatility, with prices swinging dramatically as traders react to every headline around the Iran conflict,” Lukman Otunuga, Senior Market Analyst at FXTM, told Investing.com.
U.S. inflation data looms large
Markets were keeping tabs on an upcoming reading of U.S. inflation, due out on Wednesday.
Headline U.S. consumer price growth is expected to stay fairly tame on a monthly basis in February, although the outlook for inflation has been darkened by the fighting in Iran.
Economists see the consumer price index — a key gauge of U.S. inflation — coming in at 0.3% month-on-month, compared to 0.2% in January. In the twelve months to February, CPI is tipped to equal January’s relatively muted pace of 2.4%.
Still, stripping out volatile items like food and fuel, so-called “core” consumer prices are anticipated to rise by 0.2%, down from 0.3% previously thanks to moderating airfares and winter weather disruptions, analysts at Wolfe Research said. Year-on-year, the measure is expected to match the prior level of 2.5%.
But, crucially, the numbers will largely not include the impact of the Iran conflict, which began with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes against Tehran in late February. Gasoline prices in the U.S. have jumped, reflecting the oil price increase since the start of the fighting — and possibly putting upward pressure on inflation that could lead the Federal Reserve to take a more hawkish monetary policy stance.
shares surge
Oracle delivered a quarterly top- and bottom-line beat on the back of strong growth in its cloud computing business and outlined a rosy outlook for future revenue thanks to the artificial intelligence data center boom.
The company raised its fiscal 2027 revenue guidance, sending its shares up sharply.
Austin, Texas-based Oracle in recent years has turned its focus to cloud computing infrastructure, while its core offerings such as database software and enterprise applications for finance continue to bring in revenue.
Oracle said it earned $1.79 per share on an adjusted basis on revenue of $17.19 billion for fiscal Q3 2026. Analysts had expected a profit of $1.70 per share on revenue of $16.92 billion.
The cloud segment saw revenue growth of 44% year-on-year to $8.91 billion.
Commenting on the report, Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow said the print signals “a clearer path ahead” for Oracle.
More insight into AI’s effect on the software industry may come after the close of markets, when Netskope and UiPath are due to report quarterly earnings.
Gold wavers
Gold prices inched lower, erasing earlier gains, as markets navigated mixed signals on the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
Spot gold dipped 0.1% to $5,186.01 an ounce by 07:34 ET, while gold futures fell 0.9% to $5,193.46/oz.
Spot bullion temporarily broke above the $5,000 to $5,200/oz trading range seen over the past week. The yellow metal has gyrated s after tumbling from a near $5,600/oz record high in late-January.