Canada Stocks: TSX pulls back from record high as metal mining shares fall

Dollarama

26/08/2026 21:27

Updates at market close
By Fergal Smith
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday as metal mining shares gave back some recent gains and after recent escalation in trade tensions that could hurt prospects for the domestic economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE ended down 143.98 points, or 0.4%, at 36,813.65, after posting a record closing high on Tuesday.
"The one thing that's kept the Canadian market alive is the fact that a lot of the TSX is really differentiated from what the composition of the underlying economy really is," said Michael Sprung, president at Treegrove Investment Management. "Things like aluminum, steel, forest products even and automotive industries don't represent a big part of our stock market."
Just last week, automakers were hoping summer U.S.-Canada trade talks would deliver relief from Washington's 25% tariffs that have raised the cost of shipping vehicles and parts across the border. Instead, their problem got twice as bad on Monday, when U.S. President Donald Trump declared a 50% levy on vehicles, auto parts and trucks from Canada, effective on January 1.
The TSX will retreat slightly from Tuesday's lifetime high through the rest of 2026 as investors weigh escalating trade tensions and lofty bank valuations, before it hits a record high in 2027, a Reuters poll suggested.
"Banks right now seem to be turning in earnings above expectations and people are reading that and at the same time they're reading that delinquencies are building as the inflationary environment gets harder for people to spend," Sprung said.
National Bank of Canada NA.TO reported loan loss provisions that were higher than analysts had estimated even as it beat quarterly profit estimates. Its shares lost 4.2%.
The materials group GSPTTMT, which includes metal mining shares, fell 2.4%. The price of gold XAU= was down 1.3% as investors raised bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike next month following the release of U.S. inflation data.
Consumer discretionary .GSPTTCD also lost ground, falling 1.6%, with shares of value retailer Dollarama DOL.TO down 3.6%.
Four of the 10 major sectors ended higher, including energy .SPTTEN. It added 0.8% even as U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled 0.2% lower at $82.23 a barrel.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Sudeshna Ghoshal in Bengaluru; Editing by Alistair Bell)
 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))