TORONTO — Markets in Toronto and New York were given a jolt Wednesday as oil prices fell after President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran could be nearing a deal to end the current war.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 420.58 points at 34,161.82.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 645.47 points at 50,009.35. The S&P 500 index was up 79.36 points at 7,432.97, while the Nasdaq composite was up 399.65 points at 26,270.36.

Those gains erased losses from Monday and Tuesday, as the market seems to be “taking (Trump) on his word,” said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth.

“Sometimes they really believe him, sometimes they don’t believe him, sometimes they kind of just ignore him,” he said.

The president said Wednesday that talks with Iran were “in the final stages.”

“Do we go ahead and finish it up or are they going to be signing a document? Let’s see what happens,” Trump said during an address to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s graduates.

The president had threatened to launch renewed strikes on Iran this week as talks with Tehran seemed to have stalled and a fragile ceasefire appeared to be teetering. But Trump on Monday said he was giving Iran a few more days because “serious negotiations” were underway.

Earlier Wednesday, he told reporters that he’s “in no hurry” to strike a deal to wrap up the war because of political concerns and the November midterm elections.

While the timeline for a potential resolution remains vague, Currie said the market had a “pretty big reaction” to the latest update.

“Does that mean tomorrow, next week, three months? It’s a matter of opinion, but they seem to be staking a lot on it,” he said.

“Some of it is based on the fact that we just had two down days, so it’s a bit of a recovery from that. I think if we’d been relatively flat the last couple of days, we wouldn’t have seen as big a move today.”

The sluggish start to the week was driven mostly by concerns about inflation dragging on longer and pushing yields up, said Currie, adding Wednesday’s rally was “very spread out” across various sectors, indicating a more “optimistic” market overall.

Interest rates and inflation talk have had a heavy influence on markets on both sides of the border lately, said Currie.

Statistics Canada said Tuesday that higher gas prices driven mainly by the war in Iran pushed Canada’s inflation rate to 2.8 per cent in April, a jump from March’s rate of 2.4 per cent. The cost of gasoline was 28.6 per cent higher year-over-year last month as conflict in the Middle East disrupted global oil shipments, sending prices soaring at the gas pumps.

“For the last few days it’s definitely about, ‘How long is this going to drag on, the conflict?’” Currie said.

“The market has been saying for a while and is still saying this is probably going to be short-lived and oil prices, if you look three, six months out, are much lower than they are today.”

The July crude oil contract was down US$5.89 at US$98.26 per barrel.

The June gold contract was up US$24.10 at US$4,535.30 an ounce.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.72 cents US, compared with 72.69 cents US on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2026.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

—With files from The Associated Press

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press