TSX Tumbles Nearly 3%; Materials Stocks Plunge As Precious Metals Prices Tank

(RTTNews) - Canadian stock market's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index tumbled on Friday as falling precious metals prices triggered heavy selling in the materials sector. Technology stocks dropped as well, adding to market's woes.

Precious metals tanked after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he is nominating former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Warsh is seen as a bit hawkish on inflation with historical opposition to quantitative easing, suggesting a stronger dollar environment ahead.

Gold prices fell nearly 7% and Silver plummeted more than 18%, due largely to profit taking after their historical surge over the past several weeks.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 969.50 points or 2.94% at 32,046.63 a few minutes past noon.

The Materials Capped Index fell nearly 8%, with several stocks in the sector plunging sharply. New Gold, Aya Gold & Silver, Discovery Silver Corp., Silvercorp Metals, Torex Gold Resources, First Majestic Silver Corp, Alamos Gold, Endeavour Silver Corp, Centerra Gold, and Lundi Gold Inc. tanked 10%-13%.

In the tech sector, Dye & Durham tumbled 10%. Sylogist, Shopify and Bitfarms lost 5.4%, 5% and 3.3%, respectively. Kinaxis, Computer Modelling, Coveo Solutions, Lightspeed Commerce, Tecsys, Celestica and Blackline Safety Corp also declined sharply.

Industrials, energy, consumer discretionary and financials stocks also posted sharp losses.

OR Royalties Inc. shares declined sharply following the announcement of resignation of William Murray John from the company's director role, effective immediately.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the Canadian GDP expanded by 0.1% from the previous month in December of 2025, according to an advance estimate.