The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that U.S. and Canadian stocks advanced on Monday as investors looked for signs of progress toward a U.S.-Iran ceasefire and evaluated U.S. President Donald Trump's progressively heated threats of escalation should Iran fail to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says Iran has rejected the U.S. proposal for an immediate ceasefire, insisting instead on a permanent end to the war. The rejection followed Mr. Trump's increasingly bellicose ultimatums, vowing to rain "hell" on Iran if the Hormuz bottleneck remains closed to oil tanker traffic. Investors drew some reassurance from a report that indicated the U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators continued to discuss terms of a potential ceasefire. Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha, said that despite the headlines, "There's a sense of optimism in the air with this upcoming earnings season." The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 73.75 points at 33,181.97. The price of oil settled 0.8 per cent higher at $112.41 (U.S.) a barrel on the potential for sustained supply losses owing to shipping disruptions, which helped lift the Toronto energy sector by 0.7 per cent.