Steep declines in commodity prices across the board, disappointing U.S. existing home sales data, and mixed corporate earnings triggered a selloff in Canadian equities on Thursday as investors also turned cautious ahead of the upcoming U.S. consumer inflation report. The S&P/TSX Composite Index tanked by 789 points, or 2.4%, to 32,465 — registering its biggest single-day percentage drop so far in February.
With gold, silver, and copper prices falling sharply after rising for several days, Canadian mining stocks led the selloff, weighing heavily on the resource-heavy TSX index. Although shares of consumer staples and utility companies showed resilience, the defensive gains were limited and failed to prevent a broad market retreat, as most other key sectors, including industrials, technology, and real estate, also dived.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
NovaGold Resources, WSP Global, DPM Metals, and Aya Gold & Silver were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each falling by more than 11%.
On the brighter side, Sun Life Financial (TSX: SLF) jumped 6.3% to $93.64 per share, making it the day’s top-performing TSX stock. The rally came after the insurer posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, highlighted by a 13% YoY (year-over-year) rise in its underlying quarterly net profit to $1.09 billion.
For the full year, Sun Life’s underlying net profit also climbed 9% YoY to $4.2 billion, backed by solid growth across asset management, Canada, the U.S., and Asia segments. Investors also appeared encouraged by the company’s strong capital position, with a 157% Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test (LICAT) ratio and a 4% rise in its total assets under management to $1.6 trillion.
Similarly, strong earnings drove the shares of Keyera (TSX: KEY) up by 4% to $51.03 apiece. While the energy firm’s fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) came in at $301 million, its distributable cash flow rose sharply to $206 million.
Keyera also delivered a record annual fee-for-service realized margin of over $1 billion in 2025, supported by higher contracted volumes in its gathering and processing and liquids infrastructure segments. On a year-to-date basis, KEY stock is now up 16%.
AltaGas and Saputo were also among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they climbed by at least 3.6% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Enbridge, Telus, Manulife Financial, Allied Properties REIT, and Cenovus Energy were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Most commodity prices, including crude oil, natural gas, and precious metals, continued their downward trend in early Friday trading, pointing to another cautious start for the TSX today.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors will closely monitor January’s consumer inflation data from the United States this morning for clearer direction on interest rate expectations.
Ahead of the long Family Day weekend in Canada, many TSX-listed companies, including TC Energy, Cameco, Magna International, Enbridge, Hydro One, and Colliers International, will release their latest quarterly earnings reports today, which could keep their stocks in the spotlight throughout the session.
Market movers on the TSX today
