A Bad Day for Metals Hurts Canada’s Gold-Heavy Stock Market

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Today was a bad day for the metals market.

After soaring to nearly $5,600 at the end of January, gold has tumbled about 12% since the Iran war began. There are two forces working against the metal: fears of war-induced inflation are making rate cuts less likely (not good for an asset that doesn’t pay interest) and a strengthening US dollar (which has an inverse relationship with gold).

Today gold fell for a seventh straight session, its longest losing streak since 2023.

And it wasn’t just precious metals. Aluminum on the London Metal Exchange plunged, settling down 4.4% in the biggest drop in more than six weeks. Copper also fell another 2% in its third day of declines.

The drops are a big reason why the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which is heavily tilted toward metals, briefly gave up its 2026 gains today. While it closed about 150 points above that level, it was still the lowest since Dec. 31.

Gold miners constitute 13% of the Canadian stocks gauge — a bigger proportion than financials on the S&P 500. The bias toward gold producers helped propel the Toronto index to record after record last year, but 2026’s dynamics haven’t been as kind.