Equities in Canada fell on Wednesday, as a contraction in the domestic and U.S. economies intensified investor worries about the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The TSX Composite Index stumbled 181.61 points midday to 24,692.87.
The Canadian dollar nicked up 0.06 at 72.38 cents U.S.
On TSX, information and technology stocks led the losses, as blockchain farm operator Bitfarms dropped eight cents, or 5.7%, to $1.32.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a pair of orders to soften the blow of his auto tariffs on Tuesday, offering credits and relief from other levies on materials, while his trade team touted its first deal with a foreign trading partner.
However, the 25% tariffs on the eight million imported vehicles will remain in effect.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party, which retained power in Monday’s election, has promised to support the economy in a trade war through increased spending, including on infrastructure.
Statistics Canada reported Wednesday morning Canada’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.2% in February on a monthly basis as activities across mining, oil and gas and construction sectors shrunk.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was off 4.84 points to 649.97
Eight of the 12 subgroups were lower by noon, weighed most by health-care, dumping 2.4%, while information technology fell 1.9%, and energy, down 1.5%.
The four gainers were led by gold and telecoms, each up 0.5%, utilities, better by 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Wednesday, spoiling a stock market comeback in April, as data showed the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter, raising fears the economy was slipping into a recession under the weight of President Donald Trump’s flurry of policy moves, especially on trade.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their lows of the morning, but remained negative 232.18 points to 40,295.44.
The S&P 500 index was still red 49.12 points to 5,511.71
The NASDAQ Composite weakened 218.41 points, or 1.3%, to 17,242.91.
First Solar shares plunged more than 7% after chief executive Mark Widmar said that the president’s tariffs pose a “significant economic headwind” for the solar technology company’s manufacturing facilities, slashing its full-year forecast in response.
GE Healthcare also cut its outlook for the year to account for the impact from tariffs.
Meanwhile, shares of artificial intelligence chip darling Nvidia fell more than 2% in sympathy with server maker Super Micro Computer’s 16% decline. Super Micro issued weak preliminary results for the fiscal third quarter.
First quarter gross domestic product declined at a 0.3% rate, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, a rapid reversal from a 2.4% increase in the fourth quarter. Imports surged by 41% in the last quarter, subtracting from GDP, as companies sought to get ahead of Trump’s global trade fight.
The report also showed a big slowdown in consumer spending and a decline in government spending amid Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts.
A separate report from ADP also signaled an economic slowdown, with private payroll growth slowing in April to just 62,000 during the month. That was well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate from economists of 120,000.
The major averages ended Tuesday higher after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reported the White House was close to announcing a trade deal, but didn’t name the country.
But the selling returned on Wednesday, with the weak GDP report raising concerns that the chaos caused by Trump’s policy flurry may have already pushed the economy toward a recession before any substantial trade deals are enacted.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump blamed a “Biden ‘Overhang’” following the weak numbers, telling people to “BE PATIENT!!!” and that his policies “will take a while” to take effect.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.17% from Tuesday’s 4.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices retreated 47 cents to $59.95 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold lost $17.20 to $3,316.40 U.S.