Canadian stocks saw a sharp decline on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, after U.S. president Donald Trump confirmed that tariffs on Canada and Mexico will proceed as scheduled on March 4. Trump’s tariff remarks, along with sharp declines in gold and silver prices, drove the S&P/TSX Composite Index down by 200 points, or 0.8%, to 25,128 — its lowest closing level in over five weeks.
Although an intraday recovery in crude oil prices lifted some energy stocks, heavy losses in most other key market sectors, including mining, technology, and real estate, dragged the TSX lower, signalling renewed investor concerns about trade uncertainty and economic headwinds.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Energy Fuels, Aya Gold & Silver, B2Gold, and Ero Copper were the worst-performing TSX stocks for the day, with each diving by at least 5.9%.
Despite the broader market selloff, Superior Plus (TSX:SPB) jumped by 11.5% to $6.61 per share, making it the day’s top-performing TSX stock. This rally in SPB stock came after the Toronto-based propane distributor announced its fourth-quarter results.
Superior Plus posted strong growth in its compressed natural gas business, which led to a 10% year-over-year increase in its 2024 adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to $455.5 million. Although the company’s fourth-quarter EBITDA fell slightly due to unseasonably warm weather impacting propane sales, it still expects its 2025 adjusted EBITDA to grow by 8%. SPB stock is now up 3.4% year to date and offers a 3% annualized dividend yield.
Veren, Kinaxis, and Stella-Jones were also among the session’s top gainers on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as they climbed by at least 3.9% each.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Veren, TD Bank, and Manulife Financial were the five most active stocks on the exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices across the board fell in early trading on Friday, pointing to a lower open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
Besides the domestic budget balance and GDP (gross domestic product) growth numbers, Canadian investors will also keep an eye on widely tracked U.S. personal consumption expenditure data this morning, which could give further direction to stocks. In addition, new updates related to escalating global trade tensions will remain on the market’s radar.
On the corporate events side, the TSX-listed Boralex and Laurentian Bank of Canada will announce their latest quarterly results today, which will keep their stocks in focus.