TSX Ends Moderately Lower On Tariff Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market closed notably lower on Thursday, weighed down by losses in materials, technology and realty sectors.

The mood remained cautious amid trade war fears as U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico from early March, and an additional 10% tax on Chinese imports. The President also announced plans to impose a 25% tariff on European cars and other goods.

Investors also digested a slew of earnings updates, including bank majors Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto-Dominion Bank.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index settled with a loss of 200.12 points or 0.79% at 25,128.24, the day's low. The index touched a high of 25,417.52 at the start.

Royal Bank of Canada ended nearly 3% down. The bank reported net income of C$5.011 billion or C$3.54 per share for the first quarter, higher than C$3.522 billion or C$2.50 per share in the same quarter a year ago, mainly helped by increase in revenue.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) reported adjusted net income of $2,179 million, or $2.20 per share, for the first-quarter of 2025, compared to $1,770 million, or $1.81 per share in the year-ago quarter. The stock closed lower by about 0.4%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) gained 0.71%. The bank reported adjusted net income of $3632 million, or $2.02 per share, for the first-quarter of fiscal year 2025, compared to $3,637 million, or $2.00 per share, in the year-ago quarer.

Endeavour Mining, Ero Copper, MAG Silver Corp, Stantec, Westshore Terminals Investment, Bombardier Inc., ATCO, Pan American Silver Corp, Lundin Gold and Sprott Inc lost 3 to 6%.

BRP Inc, Agnico Eagle Mines, George Weston, Celestica Inc, Wheaton Precious Metals, Magna International, Cameco Corporation and Teck Resources closed lower by 2 to 2.7%.

Shares of oil producer Veren climbed nearly 10%, lifted by better-than-expected results.

Kinaxis gained 5.2%. E-L-Financial Corporation, Stella-Jones, iA Financial Corporation, Restaurant Brands International, First Quantum Minerals, ATS Corporation, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, Colliers International and Franco-Nevada Corporation advanced 1 to 4.3%.

Data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's current account deficit widened to C$ 5.0 billion in Q4 2024, up from an upwardly revised C$ 3.6 billion in Q3.

Another report from Statistics Canada said average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada rose by 5.8% year-on-year to $1,290.82 in December 2024, the most since March 2021, following a 5.0% year-over-year increase in November.