Canada’s main stock index fell on Friday weighed down by mining and telecom stocks amid worries that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will hurt the economy and stoke inflation.
The TSX Composite Index slid 90.77 points to close Friday at 24,969.47. On the week, though, the index gained 416 points, or 1.7%.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents to 69.72 cents U.S.
Among individual stocks, Premium Brands gained $3.47, or 4.6%, to $78.72, after the specialty food producer and distributor beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates.
Telecommunications fell the hardest, with TELUS down 99 cents, or 4.7%, to $19.99, while Rogers slipped 80 cents, or 2%, to $39.20.
Materials were also in the red, primarily, Ivanhoe Mines, tumbling 64 cents, or 4.2%, to $14.57, while Orla Mining doffed 57 cents, or 4.4%, to $12.75.
In gold stocks, Aya Gold gave back 41 cents, or 3.1%, to $12.85, while Torex Gold Resources stumbled $1.01, or 2.7%, to $36.38.
Health-care balanced things out a bit, with Bausch Health Companies collecting a dime, or 1%, to $10.27, while Tilray registered gains of three cents, or 3.3%, to 95 cents.
Tech stocks were a plus, as Quarterhill took on four cents, or 2.7%, to $1.51, while shares in Shopify pumped higher $3.21, or 2.2%, to $148.91.
Utilities also gained, with Northland Power up 25 cents, or 1.3%, to $20.01, while Emera jumped 36 cents to $59.05.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Thursday that due to uncertainty about U.S. tariffs, the bank had to adjust its monetary policy to become less forward-looking than normal.
The central bank is due to issue its quarterly monetary policy report on April 16, in which it will predict growth in the quarters and years ahead.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada’s new housing price index edged up 0.1% on a month-over-month basis in February, following a decline in the previous month.
Moreover, retail sales decreased 0.6% to $69.4 billion in January. Sales were down in three of nine subsectors and were led by decreases at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.74 points to 639.04, but pointed upward on the week nearly 18 points, or 2.9%.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the red by the close, weighed most by telecommunications, down 1.9%, while materials dragged 1.4%, and gold skidded 1.3%.
The three gainers were health-care, up 1.1%, while information technology gathered 0.3%, and utilities nicked higher 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell slightly on Friday as it tried to avoid its fifth straight week of losses caused by trade policy turmoil, recession fears and a rollover in megacap technology shares.
The Dow Jones Industrials pulled into the green 32.03 points by the close to 41,985.35.
The broader index moved higher 4.67 points to 5,667.56
The NASDAQ recovered 92.43 points to 17,784.05
Traders had prepped for a likely volatile session on Friday with a so-called “quadruple witching” – when stock options, index futures, index options and single-stock futures expire. Goldman estimates that more than $4.7 trillion of notional options exposure will expire.
The session was indeed volatile with major averages coming off their lows after President Donald Trump said there would be some “flexibility” with tariffs. Trump, however, maintained that the tariffs implemented at the April 2 deadline will be reciprocal, saying that all countries that have tariffs on U.S. goods will be charged.
The S&P 500 briefly fell into correction territory at one point during its selloff since late February, and it now sits about 8% from its record high, short of the 10% correction level. The benchmark has made some attempts to rally this month without much follow-through, including on Wednesday when it snapped back by 1% after the Federal Reserve said it would still likely cut rates two times this year.
The bulk of the market’s gains came on Wednesday when Federal Reserve policymakers kept their forecast for two rate cuts this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground Thursday, sending yields up to 4.25% from Thursday’s 4.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices doggedly added 16 cents to $68.23 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold stumbled $18.30 an ounce to $3,025.50 U.S.
