June 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to a new peak on Tuesday, helped by gains in energy and financial stocks, even as simmering tensions around the Middle East conflict kept global investors on edge.
At 10:25 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.4% at 34,899.07 points.
o Iran is reviewing a proposed agreement with the U.S. to halt their war, Iranian media reported on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said talks to reach a deal were continuing.
o The energy sector led gains, up 1.6%, as crude prices stabilized after falling earlier in the session. [O/R]
o Financials were up 0.8%. Six of 10 sectors on the TSX were in the green.
o "A lot of the tailwinds of the TSX have been coming from the materials sector and financials which has really helped the TSX lift higher. Remember, a third is financials and a third is materials... so two-thirds of the TSX has performed very well," said Michael Dehal, a senior portfolio manager at Dehal Investment Partners at Raymond James.
o Meanwhile, Canada's minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, will meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday, the minister's office said in a statement on Monday, after Canada was left out of bilateral trade talks between the U.S. and Mexico last week.
o "Canada needs to actually start negotiating, because the further this goes on without them sitting down and having talks, the more volatility we can see," Dehal said.
o Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, pressed about statistics showing the country is in a technical recession, told reporters that as the government pressed ahead with reforms "the data will be uneven".
o Among others, Barrick Mining, fell 0.4% after the gold miner said it is weighing a possible London listing for its African business, with a potential all-share transaction with UK-listed Endeavour Mining seen as one option under consideration, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi
