Canadian Market Down Sharply On Widespread Selling

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are down sharply in negative territory in early afternoon trades on Friday, extending earlier losses, amid concerns about growth and uncertainty about U.S. tariffs. Disappointing GDP data appears to be weighing as well.

Technology, healthcare, industrials, consumer discretionary, materials, energy and financials share are reeling under sustained selling pressure. A few stocks from utilities and consumer staples sectors are finding some support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 371.84 points or 1.48% at 24,789.22 a little while ago.

The Information Technology Capped Index is down more than 2.5%. The HealthCare index is down nearly 2% and the Industrials Index is declining 1.6%, while the Consumer Discretionary, Financials, Materials and Energy Indexes are down 1.3 to 1.5%.

Aya Gold & Silver is plunging 19%. The company reported fourth-quarter net loss of US$30.0 million, or US$0.23 per share, compared with net income of US$3.6 million, or US$0.03 per share, recorded in the year-ago quarter.

B2Gold Corp is down 9%, while Novagold, BRP Inc., Ivanhoe Mines, TFI International, Seabridge Gold, Shopify Inc., Ero Copper, Tilray, First Quantum Minerals, Aritzia, Endeavour Silver Mining, MDA Space, MAG Silver and Hudbay Minerals are down 4 to 7%.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Onex Corp, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Laurentian Bank and Toronto-Dominion Bank are also notably lower.

Data from Statistics Canada said the Canadian GDP was essentially unchanged from the previous month in February of 2025, according to a flash estimate. In turn, the GDP expanded by 0.4% from the previous month in January, extending momentum in December and better than flash estimates of 0.3%.

Canada's finance department said Canada's government budget recorded a deficit of C$ 5.13 billion in January 2025, widening from a C$ 2.06 billion deficit in January 2024.