TSX Ends Sharply Lower As Stocks Tumble On Tariff Jitters

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Monday due to heavy selling in energy and technology sectors. Stocks from materials, industrials and consumer discretionary sectors were the other major losers.

The mood remained bearish on Bay Street as U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that the 25% tariffs on Canad and Mexico will take effect Tuesday.

Trump also announced plans to impose tariffs on imported agricultural products from April 2.

Data showing a sharp contraction in Canadian manufacturing activity in the month of February weighed as well on investor sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 391.88 points or 1.54% at 25,001.57. The index dropped to a low of 24,885.70 in the final hour, before staging a modest recovery from that level.

Energy stocks tumbled, pushing the Energy Capped Index by 5.14%, as oil prices fell amid prospects of excess supply in the market as OPEC+ said the group will proceed with a planned oil output increase in April, and on worries that U.S. tariffs could hurt global economic growth and result in weak oil demand.

The Information Technology Capped Index ended down 3.4%, while the Industrials Index closed 1.45% down. The Materials and Consumer Discretionary indexes lost 1.18% and 1.07%, respectively.

Celestica Inc tanked 12.9%. Interfor Corporation, MEG Energy Corp, E-L-Financial Corporation, MDA Space, Cenovus Energy, Precision Drilling Corporation, Bombardier Inc. and Cameco Corporation ended down by 6 to 9%.

Methanex Corporation, Nutrien, Cargojet, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, TFI International, Shopify Inc., AtkinsRealis, BRP Inc., West Fraser Timber, Onex Corporation, Tourmaline Oil Corp., Canadian National Railway, Magna International, Constellation Software, Imperial Oil, Loblaw Companies and Canadian Pacific Kansas City also declined sharply.

Stella-Jones, Docebo, GFL Environmental, GDI Integrated Facility Services, Pet Valu Holdings, Kinaxis, ATCO, Quebecor, Canadian Tire Corporation, Emera, BCE Inc., and Endeavour Mining gained 1.5 to 4%.

The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI fell to 47.8 in February of 2025 from 51.6 in the previous month, contrasting sharply with market expectations of 51.9. The result pointed to the first decline in factory activity since August of last year and the sharpest since December 2023.