The Canadian stock market went sideways on Thursday as fresh bank earnings, Canada-U.S. trade uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East remained in focus. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the volatile session with a small gain of 21 points, or 0.1%, to settle at 36,834, still marking its second-highest closing ever.
Despite gains in mining and technology stocks, sharp declines in most other key sectors, including utilities, financials, and consumer staples, limited the TSX benchmark’s upside.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
BlackBerry (TSX:BB) was the top-performing TSX stock for the day, as it jumped by nearly 11% to $11.97 per share. This rally in BB stock followed news that its QNX division is adding support for Hailo’s artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator on QNX Software Development Platform 8.0.
This combination is expected to help developers build AI-powered systems for automotive, robotics, medical devices, and other mission-critical applications. In benchmark testing, BlackBerry said QNX delivered up to 14 times greater performance consistency, along with higher throughput and lower latency versus a real-time Linux environment.
Strengthening silver prices drove metals and mining stocks like AbraSilver Resource, Aya Gold & Silver, and Trekor Metals up by at least 4.8% each, making them among the day’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
In contrast, EQB (TSX:EQB) plunged by 6.6% a day after announcing its fiscal third-quarter 2026 (ended in July) financial results. The Canadian financial services firm reported a net loss of $127.3 million for the quarter, compared with net income of $73.4 million a year ago.
This weakness in EQB’s bottom line largely reflected a sharp increase in provisions for credit losses to $303 million, including $219 million of initial provisions related to the credit card portfolio acquired with PC Financial.
Bausch Health Companies, Aritzia, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also slipped by 2.8% each, making them among the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Based on their daily trade volume, BlackBerry, AbraSilver Resource, Aya Gold & Silver, Trekor Metals, and Bird Construction were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Silver and copper prices trended higher in early trading on Friday, while most other commodities, such as oil and gold, were mixed. These commodity market signals could offer some support to TSX mining stocks at the open today, especially if silver and copper extend their early gains.
While no major domestic economic releases are due, Canadian investors may want to keep an eye on fresh developments in Canada-U.S. trade relations. Meanwhile, ongoing efforts to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could influence oil prices and TSX energy stocks throughout the session.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Laurentian Bank of Canada will announce its latest quarterly results today.
Market movers on the TSX today
