Canadian stocks saw more ups and downs on Thursday as weaker commodity prices and ongoing trade war fears weighed on investor sentiment. A day after inching up by around 300 points, the S&P/TSX Composite Index gave up 287 points, or 1.2%, to settle at 24,584.
Even as U.S. president Donald Trump signed an executive order to temporarily adjust tariffs on some Canadian imports to minimize disruption to the U.S. automotive industry, investor concerns about the broader impact of trade tensions intensified. These worries led to a renewed selloff in most key market sectors, including technology, financials, and real estate, while consumer stocks showed strength.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Shares of Aecon Group (TSX: ARE) tanked by over 16% to $18.69 per share a day after announcing its far worse-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. In the quarter ended in December 2024, the Toronto-based infrastructure firm’s revenue rose 12% year over year to $1.3 billion with the help of higher contributions from its construction segment.
However, Aecon’s quarterly operating profit fell 25% from a year ago to $29.6 million due mainly to increased expenses and lower gains from asset sales. As a result, its adjusted quarterly earnings of $0.21 per share missed Street analysts’ expectations of $0.41 per share by a wide margin, triggering a selloff in ARE stock, which now trades with a 31% year-to-date loss.
South Bow, Celestica, Descartes Systems, and Brookfield Asset Management were also among the session’s worst performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each diving by at least 7%.
In contrast, Parkland, Badger Infrastructure Solutions, Athabasca Oil, and Seabridge Gold climbed by at least 4.8% each, making them the top-performing TSX stocks for the day.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Cenovus Energy, and Enbridge were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices, especially metals, fell in early Friday trading, suggesting that TSX mining stocks could face additional pressure at the open today.
In addition to the U.S. and Canada jobs reports due this morning, the Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech about the economic outlook and further indications on trade policy will likely dominate investor focus.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Constellation Software, Algonquin Power & Utilities, MDA Space, and AltaGas are set to release their latest earnings reports today, which will keep their stocks in the spotlight.
Market movers on the TSX today
