Canadian stocks ended their five-day winning streak on Thursday as investors reacted to renewed trade tensions after a U.S. court reinstated Trump’s tariffs on key imports. The decision fueled uncertainty across global markets, with the appeals court granting a stay that allowed U.S. tariffs to remain in effect while the legal battle continues.
As a result, despite climbing by more than 100 points in intraday trading, the S&P/TSX Composite Index settled with a loss of 73 points, or 0.3%, at 26,211.
Despite continued buying in healthcare and real estate stocks, declines in other key sectors, including financials, consumer staples, and mining, dragged the broader TSX into the red.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
EQB (TSX:EQB) dived by over 7% to $91.80 per share, making it the worst-performing TSX stock for the day. This selloff in EQB stock came after the Canadian financial services firm reported mixed April quarter results that showed a sharp 18% YoY (year-over-year) decline in its adjusted earnings, coupled with rising provisions for credit losses and slowing earnings momentum.
Investors also seemed concerned about EQB’s increasing levels of impaired loans and the higher provision expenses, which reflected ongoing macroeconomic headwinds. Despite solid loan growth and an 18% increase in its dividend, the market reacted to its weaker-than-expected earnings and deteriorating credit quality, driving shares lower.
Denison Mines, Energy Fuels, and NexGen Energy were also among the session’s bottom performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with each sliding by at least 3.9%.
On the flip side, BRP jumped by 12.7% to $56 per share after the company reported a nearly 279% YoY surge in net profit for the April quarter, despite a 7.7% drop in revenue and continued macroeconomic challenges.
Bombardier, H&R REIT, and NFI Group also climbed by at least 3.6% each, making them the day’s top-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Natural Resources, and Cenovus Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board were mixed in early trading on Friday, pointing to a flat opening for the resource-heavy TSX index today. Despite recent swings, the market index remains on track to finish May on solid ground, currently up 5.5% month to date.
Besides the domestic GDP (gross domestic product) growth and budget balance figures, Canadian investors will also closely monitor the U.S. personal consumption expenditure data this morning, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
On the corporate events side, Laurentian Bank of Canada will announce its latest quarterly results today. Bay Street analysts expect the bank to report earnings of $0.71 per share for the April quarter, with $244.7 million in revenue.
Market movers on the TSX today
