Close Edition. Monday, May 25, 2026

Market context for passive investors.

Latest

$44.76
+1.77%

Headline

Iran peace optimism lifts XEQT 1.77%, setting a new 52-week high before closing at $44.76.

XEQT gained 1.77% on Monday, 2.6 times its recent daily average, as hopes for a U.S.-Iran deal to end hostilities sent equities higher across every sleeve. The fund touched a new 52-week high of $45.00 intraday before settling at $44.76. With U.S. markets closed for Memorial Day, the session's breadth was especially notable: Canada, international developed markets, and emerging markets each contributed positively, while Canadian-listed instruments filled in the picture for U.S. exposures. The United States sleeve, at 2.62%, supplied roughly 57% of the fund's total gain.

How large is today's move?

Notable day · Today's +1.77% move is 2.6× the 20-day average move.

This scale measures size, not what to do. Larger moves are a normal part of holding a global all-equity fund.

The Regions

  • Canada

    25.28% of XEQT

    • XIC.TO
    +1.20% +0.30 pts to XEQT

    The S&P/TSX Composite closed up more than 350 points, with basic materials the clear leader. Canadian materials surged 4.39%, likely aided by gold's elevated price level, contributing nearly 0.77 percentage points within the sleeve and more than offsetting a sharp 3.25% decline in energy, where the prospect of Strait of Hormuz reopening weighed on oil prices. Financials and information technology added steadily, rounding out a 1.20% sleeve gain.

    Canada market region icon
  • United States

    45.29% of XEQT

    • XTOT.TO
    +2.62% +1.18 pts to XEQT

    The U.S. sleeve rose 2.62%, the strongest of the four, with technology leading among the sectors tracked. Canadian-listed technology exposure gained 1.75%, and industrials and consumer staples also posted solid advances. Energy was the exception, falling 3.45% consistent with declining oil prices on Iran deal optimism. Consumer discretionary and communication services data were unavailable for this session, leaving roughly a quarter of the sleeve untracked.

    United States market region icon
  • Intl Developed

    24.46% of XEQT

    • XEF.TO
    +1.90% +0.46 pts to XEQT

    Iran deal hopes drove broad gains across developed markets outside North America. Japan was the standout, with the Nikkei surging past the 65,000 mark for the first time, and Japan-linked equity exposure rising 2.63%, the single largest contributor within the sleeve. Germany and France each advanced more than 1.7%, with Spain also closing higher. The sleeve returned 1.90%, contributing 0.47 percentage points to XEQT.

    Intl Developed market region icon
  • Emerging Mrkts

    4.86% of XEQT

    • XEC.TO
    +2.75% +0.13 pts to XEQT

    Emerging markets posted the session's strongest sleeve return at 2.75%, with Taiwan the dominant driver. The Taiwan index gained 3.26%, contributing the bulk of the sleeve's move, buoyed by AI-related demand for semiconductor and chip infrastructure names. China and India advanced more modestly at under 1%, while South Africa added 2.45% among the markets tracked.

    Emerging Markets market region icon

Colored bars represent biggest contributors to XEQT's move today (threshold = ±0.1 percentage points). Returns are daily ETF price moves for tracked regional or sector categories and may differ slightly from raw index movements.

The Hold Line

A gain of this magnitude, with all four sleeves advancing on the same session, is uncommon. Emerging markets are up 23.75% year-to-date, well ahead of the other sleeves, and their outsized run has quietly pulled XEQT's blended 12.21% YTD return above both Canada and international developed markets individually. The fund's 52-week low now sits 29% below Monday's close, a useful reminder of how much ground has been recovered. Sessions like this are worth appreciating in proportion: they reflect genuine risk-asset strength, but long-term returns are built from many such days, not any single one.

Signals

  • 01

    Energy-materials divergence within Canada

    Canadian energy fell 3.25% while materials surged 4.39% on the same session, a split driven by Iran peace optimism depressing crude prices while gold held at elevated levels. For XEQT holders, this internal Canadian divergence illustrates how sector composition within a single sleeve can pull sharply in opposite directions even when the sleeve-level return is solidly positive.

  • 02

    Iran deal optimism as cross-sleeve catalyst

    Hopes for a U.S.-Iran agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz produced positive returns in every sleeve tracked, a synchronized global risk-on move spanning Canada, developed Europe, Japan, and emerging Asia. Broad cross-regional alignment of this kind, driven by a single geopolitical catalyst, is relatively infrequent, and it accounted for most of today's outsized move relative to the 20-day average.

  • 03

    Emerging markets YTD lead widens

    Taiwan's 3.26% session gain extended a year-to-date run that has left emerging markets up 23.75%, roughly double Canada's 10.29% and well ahead of the U.S. sleeve's 13.07%. The AI-infrastructure theme centered on Taiwan's semiconductor sector has been a key contributor, and its weight in the emerging markets sleeve means continued momentum there carries meaningful influence on XEQT's blended return.

Email Briefs

Want one clean update and nothing else?

Subscribe and get The XEQT Brief in your inbox after every market close, or once a week if you prefer. Always matter-of-fact. Never sensationalist.

Cadence

Brief emails are free. Unsubscribe anytime.

Historical Sleeve Performance

Contributions to XEQT

Contribution = sleeve weight × sleeve return ÷ 100, using current allocations. Var shows the gap between the arithmetic sum of contributions and XEQT's actual return.

Sleeve Returns

Returns are cumulative price returns (ex-dividend). The U.S. sleeve blends XTOT/ITOT for YTD and VUN/ITOT for 1Y and 5Y.

Time till the next update

Next brief in

FAQ

What's the point of this site?

To answer the question you have every time XEQT dips: what happened, and should I care? Spoiler: probably not, but it's a surprisingly good lens for understanding what is happening in the world.

How often are the updates? The data looks stale

The XEQT Brief is automatically updated three times on every TSX trading day, at approximately 10am, 1pm, and 5pm Eastern Time. These are called the open, midday, and close briefs respectively. Please note that manual updates may also be triggered to refresh briefs.

What is XEQT?

XEQT is a Canadian ETF that gives you instant ownership in about 9,000 companies across the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and beyond, all for a ~0.20% annual fee. Think of it as a basket that holds the world, designed to take the guessing and indecision out of investing and to serve as a complete one-fund portfolio for many passive investors.

What is an ETF?

An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a basket of investments that trades on the stock market like a single stock. Instead of picking individual companies, a single purchase gets you a slice of everything inside it, hundreds or thousands of companies at once. With often low fees, instant diversification, and less guesswork, they can make investing simpler and more accessible.

What is the best ETF to buy in Canada?

For many Canadians, a single globally diversified equity ETF can be a strong simple choice. XEQT is one good answer to this question: one purchase gives you ownership in roughly 9,000 companies across the world for a low fee, with no rebalancing required. It is not the only good answer, but it is one of the simplest and most well-regarded options for passive, long-term investing in Canada.

How do I buy XEQT?

XEQT trades on the TSX under the ticker XEQT. You can buy it commission-free through brokers like Wealthsimple Trade or Questrade. Even a small amount gets you started.

Why not just VFV or the S&P 500?

Because betting everything on one country, even the US, is still a bet. The S&P 500 has had an incredible run, but past performance is not a promise. Entire decades have passed where international markets outperformed the US. Diversification is one of the few free lunches in investing, and XEQT owns far more of the global market. Wherever growth shows up, you're already there.

XEQT vs VEQT vs ZEQT vs HEQT vs TEQT vs FEQT: what is the difference?

All six are Canadian all-in-one global equity ETFs with very similar goals: own the world, stay diversified, and keep fees low. The differences come down to the provider and slight variations in how they weight regions and which underlying funds they use. XEQT is by iShares (BlackRock), VEQT by Vanguard, ZEQT by BMO, HEQT by Global X, TEQT by TD, and FEQT by Fidelity. All charge similarly low fees. For most investors, the choice between them comes down to preference. Any one of them can work as a sound, complete portfolio.

What is an FHSA?

The First Home Savings Account is a Canadian registered account that combines the best of a TFSA and an RRSP specifically for first-time home buyers. Contributions are tax-deductible, like an RRSP, and withdrawals for a qualifying home purchase are tax-free, like a TFSA. You can hold investments like XEQT inside it, letting your savings grow while sheltered from tax. The annual contribution limit is $8,000, with a lifetime limit of $40,000.

Should I hold XEQT in my TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA?

All three can work well. The right choice depends on your goals, income, and whether you're saving for a first home. XEQT inside any of them can shelter you from tax on growth, and each account has different contribution and withdrawal rules.

Why does XEQT move on any given day?

XEQT is a global fund weighted across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Emerging Markets. When it moves, something moved somewhere in the world.

Why should I keep holding XEQT when it drops?

Because a drop is usually not a reason to sell. XEQT's entire thesis is long-term global growth. Short-term volatility is the cost of admission.

How risky is XEQT?

XEQT is 100% equities, meaning there are no bonds to cushion the fall. In a bad year it can drop 30% or more. The tradeoff is that equities have historically delivered higher long-term returns than lower-risk assets, but with much larger drawdowns. The risk is less that XEQT will go to zero and more that you'll panic sell at the bottom. If your time horizon is 10+ years, short-term volatility is usually noise.

Does XEQT pay dividends?

XEQT pays quarterly distributions passed through from its roughly 9,000 underlying holdings. In registered accounts like a TFSA, distributions and growth can be sheltered from tax.