Canadian Market Down Sharply As Materials Stocks Tumble

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down sharply in negative territory Friday afternoon, hurt by losses in materials, healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors. Shares from utilities and financials sectors too are mostly down with notable losses.

Concerns about Middle East tensions, inflation and possibility of monetary tightening by central banks, and a lack of positive outcome from the U.S.-China summit weigh on sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 445.33 points or 1.3% at 33,822.94 a little while ago.

The Materials Index is down 5.5% with stocks declining sharply on weak precious metals prices. Americas Gold & Silver Corporation, Wesdome Gold Mines, Aya Gold & Silver, Taseko Mines, Silvercorp, First Majestic Silver Corp., Orla Mining and SSR Mining are down 8%-11%.

Curaleaf Holdings is down more than 8%, contributing substantially to the Healthcare Index's 2.4% drop.

Consumer discretionary stock Canadian Tire Corporation is down 3.1% despite reporting higher than expected earnings per share for the first quarter. CTC reported an EPS of $2.02 for the first quarter of this year, compared with $2 in the year-ago quarter.

Magna International is down 3.5%, while Aritzia, Linamar Corp and Dollarama are down 1.4%-2%.

Energy stocks Strathcona Resources, Baytex Energy Corp, Tamarack Valley Energy, Whitecap Resources, Peyto Exploration, Ces Energy Solutions, Headwater Exploration and Topaz Energy are up 2%-5%.

Technology stocks Docebo, Shopify and Constellation Software are gaining 5.8%, 3.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Coveo Solutions is rising nearly 3%, while CGI is up 1.7%.

In economic news, data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada jumped 17% to an annualized 279,300 units in April 2026 from the previous month, well above market forecasts of 240,000 units. The reading marked the highest level of housing starts in four months, pointing to renewed strength in residential construction activity.

Data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in Canada rose 3% to C$73.6 billion in March, the highest since January 2025, after a downwardly revised 3.4% gain in February and below preliminary estimates of 3.5%.