TSX Ends Moderately Lower On Tariff Jitters

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market closed weak on Wednesday as concerns about Trump's tariffs and uncertainty about economic growth weighed on sentiment.

Technology, healthcare and materials stocks were the major losers. Communications shares found some support.

Despite optimism about some tariff exemptions by the Trump administration, the mood remained cautious as investors chose to wait for more clarity about the U.S. President's moves.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 178.45 points or 0.7% at 25,161.06. The index dropped to a low of 25,106.44 in the final hour before staging a modest recovery.

The Information Technology Capped Index dropped 3.24%. Celestica Inc tanked nearly 10%. Shopify Inc., BlackBerry, TecSys, Dye & Durham, Docebo Inc., Coveo Solutions and Descartes Systems Group lost 1.9 to 5.2%.

Sangoma Technologies drifted down 2.7%. Sangoma announced a Normal Course Issuer Bid - NCIB for its common shares following the early achievement of its debt reduction targets. Earlier this week, the company made an additional $2.9 million debt repayment, bringing total Q3 repayments to $7.3 million and fully settling Term Loan 1.

Healthcare stocks Tilray and Bausch Health Companies closed down 4.1% and 2.8%, respectively.

Materials shares Teck Resources, First Quantum Minerals, Lundin Mining, Hudbay Minerals, Ngex Minerals, Ivanhoe Mines, Ero Copper and Capstone Mining lost 4.3 to 6.1%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada said wholesale sales in Canada likely increased by 0.4% month-over-month in February, after a 1.2% rise in the previous month, according to preliminary estimates.