This Week’s Highlights
- Gold Miners: Stocks Look Expensive Despite Raising Our Gold Price Assumptions Again
- Increasing Fair Value Estimates for Major Oil Stocks on Higher Oil Prices
- The PE Performance of Canada’s Pensions Might be Better Than It Looks
- Top 3 Overvalued Canadian Stocks
- 3 Top-Performing Canadian Stock ETFs
The Canadian stock market pushed higher this week, while US stocks hit a new all-time high. Canadian stocks closed out the week up nearly 2% amid a US-Iran ceasefire and mounting hopes of diplomatic progress toward ending the war as Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
Continuing their recent upward trend, mining and energy stocks led the market’s advance. The Morningstar Canada Basic Materials Target Market Exposure Index has soared nearly 17% this year through April 16, more than double the 8% gain for the Morningstar Canada Index. Inevitably, some resource names have started to look expensive. A screen of Morningstar’s Canadian coverage revealed that all three of the priciest stocks for the week of April 6 were gold miners. While gold retreated from its historic January high amid the conflict, Morningstar analyst Jon Mills explains why he thinks gold stocks are still overvalued.
Across other sectors, Morningstar’s Bella Albrecht scanned Canadian stocks and identified three names that have entered expensive territory, following gains over the past month.
The resilience of the Canadian market amid geopolitical turmoil is also evident in exchange-traded funds, which have posted strong returns. Tom Lauricella ran a screen on Canadian equity ETFs and found the three top-performing funds over multiple periods.
Meanwhile, oil prices remain elevated in the absence of a final peace deal. Higher prices have supported oil and gas company stocks, prompting Morningstar equity analyst Allen Good to raise the fair value estimates for major producers well-positioned to benefit from the current environment.
Geopolitical upheaval reminds us of the importance of diversification and discipline. For retirement investors, target-date funds can help achieve both. What are they, and how do they work? This new explainer from Morningstar’s Michael Dobson offers a broad overview.
On the topic of retirement, Canada’s pension funds have reported their 2025 performance, and one theme stands out: weak returns from private equity. Losses in this segment caused some of the country’s largest pension funds to miss their return targets. This explainer from PitchBook’s Jessica Hamlin unpacks the challenge facing Canada’s private equity industry. She argues that the reported losses may not be as concerning as they appear.
Finally, the US earnings season has kicked off on a solid note, with strong bank earnings from Goldman Sachs GS and JPMorgan Chase JPM. Elsewhere, EV leader Tesla TSLA made headlines after securing full self-driving approval in the Netherlands, while chipmaker Broadcom AVGO announced a multiyear partnership with tech giant Meta.
