Canadian Stocks Turn Lower As Trump Ends Trade Discussions

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks fell on Friday, losing earlier gains after US President Donald Trump halted all trade discussions with Canada due to the Canadian digital services tax on American technology companies.

After opening a little lower than yesterday's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index briskly moved to an intraday high of 26,806.62 just before noon. However after Trump's announcement on ending talks with Canada, the index turned lower to settle at 26,692.32, down by 59.63 (or 0.22%).

Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the US is terminating all discussions on trade with Canada with immediate effect and that tariffs on Canada shall be announced in a week.

Trump has taken this hard stance as the digital services tax Canada has imposed caused him displeasure.

In a brief speech on CBC TV, Canadian PM Mark Carney assured that his government will continue "complex negotiations" with the US "in the best interest of Canadians".

On the domestic front, Statistics Canada revealed Canadian real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% in April

Meanwhile, the US and China made further progress on the trade agreement announced by the countries last month in Geneva. A White House official said both have agreed to "an additional understanding of a framework to implement the Geneva agreement."

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said that the two sides have "confirmed the details of the framework."

Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Healthcare (0.73%), Real Estate (0.65%), IT (0.63%), and Consumer Discretionary (0.34%).

Among the individual stocks, Bausch Health Companies (1.03%), Allied Properties (2.08%), Killam Apartment (1.93%), and Celestica (1.99%) were the prominent gainers.

Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Materials (2.84%), Energy (0.49%), Communication Services (0.29), Consumer Staples (0.20%), and Utilities (0.12%).

Among the individual stocks, Lundin Gold (7.92%), G Mining Ventures (7.51%), Quebecor (1.02%), and Rogers Communication (0.35%) were the notable losers.