The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell nearly 1% to below 36,500 on Monday as mining shares declined. Gold prices weakened amid renewed Middle East tensions and related inflation concerns, while hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reinforced expectations for a September rate hike. Agnico Eagle and Barrick fell more than 2%, and WPM lost nearly 3%. Technology stocks also dropped, tracking losses among US hyperscalers (large cloud-computing companies), with Shopify down 5% and Constellation Software nearly 1% lower. Major banks were little changed after strong earnings reports last week helped support the sector despite renewed inflationary pressures. The Bank of Canada is widely expected to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at 2.25% at Wednesday’s policy decision. Higher crude prices lifted energy stocks, with Canadian Natural and Suncor rising more than 2.5%, while Imperial Oil and Cenovus gained over 2%.