Canada Stocks: TSX pulls back from record high as energy stocks slide

NovaGold Resources

04/06/2025 21:23

TSX ends down 0.4% at 26,329.00

Bank of Canada holds policy rate at 2.75%

Unifor calls for retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminium

Energy loses 1.8% as oil settles 0.9% lower

Updates to close

By Sanchayaita  Roy and Fergal Smith

June 4 (Reuters) - Canada's commodity-linked main stock index fell on Wednesday as lower oil prices weighed on energy shares and investors awaited greater clarity on the global trade outlook.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended down 97.64 points, or 0.4%, at 26,329.00, after posting a record closing high on Tuesday.

Canada's labour union Unifor called for retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminium as the U.S. government doubled the levies to 50%.

"The market has become a little insensitive to all the trade headlines until we have something more concrete", said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones.

"There's been a lot of reversals in these news headlines, while at the same time economic data have continued to come in pretty strong, which has allowed the markets to look a little bit past those headlines."

The downturn in Canada's services economy eased somewhat in May as firms grew more hopeful that trade and political uncertainty would become less of a drag on activity over the coming 12 months, S&P Global's Canada services PMI data showed.

The BoC held its benchmark rate at 2.75%, citing the need to probe the effects of U.S. trade policy, but said another cut might be necessary if the economy weakened in the face of tariffs.

"Going forward, we think the path of the BoC will be largely determined by the extent of further softening in the economy," Claire Fan, a senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, said in a note.

The energy sector fell 1.8% as the price of oil settled 0.9% lower at $62.85 a barrel, pressured by U.S. data that showed a large build in fuel stocks.

Canadian Natural Resources CNQ.TO has restarted its Jackfish 1 oil sands site in northern Alberta after determining wildfires in the region were a safe distance away. The company's shares fell 1.9%, while the utilities group lost 1% and consumer staples ended 1.2% lower.

The materials sector, which includes metal mining shares, added 0.6% as gold XAU= and copper HGc1 prices rose.

NovaGold Resources Inc NG.TO shares jumped nearly 24% and shares of Algoma Steel Group Inc ASTL.TO ended up 3.3%.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))