TSX Retreats From Record High As Weak GDP Data Hurts Sentiment

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market, which posted a record closing high on Thursday, is down in negative territory on Friday, hurt by data showing an unexpected contraction in the nation's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter. Technology and financial stocks are among the major losers.

Shares from communications, materials, utilities and consumer staples sectors are finding some support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 207.08 points or 0.6% at 34,294.88 a few minutes before noon.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the GDP in Canada contracted an annualized 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025, after a 2.4% expansion in the previous period.

The Canadian GDP was unchanged from the previous month in January of 2026, according to an advance estimate.

A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term index, which tracks 12-month forward expectations for business performance, climbed to 64.8 in February 2026, up from January's revised 59.3. This marked the highest reading since April 2022.

Technology stocks Shopify and Coveo Solutions are down 5.5% and 4.3%, respectively. BlackBerry is down 3.3% and Lightspeed Commerce is declining by about 3%. Descartes Systems Group, Constellation Software, Celestica Inc. and Kinaxis are also notably lower.

Among financials, Bank of Montreal is down 3.4% and Brookfield Asset Management is down by about 4%. Onex Corp., goeasy, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife Financial, Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank are down 1%-3%.

Laurentian Bank of Canada is hovering around its previous closing price. The bank reported a net loss of $20.5 million and a diluted loss per share of $0.58 for the first quarter of 2026, compared with net income of $38.6 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.76 for the first quarter of 2025.

Communications stocks Quebecor Inc., and BCE Inc., are up 6.7% and 2%, respectively.

TransAlta Corporation is up nearly 3.5% despite reporting net loss attributable to common shareholders of $62 million, or $0.21 per share in the fourth quarter, compared to $65 million, or $0.22 per share, for the same period in 2024.

Atco, Canadian Utilties,Algonquin Power & Utilities, Emera, Fortis, Capital Power and Hydro One are among the other notable gainers in the utiities sector.

Boralex Inc. reported net earnings of $26 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, $28 million better than in the year-ago quarter. The stock is up by about 0.5%.