Canadian Stocks Decline As August 1 Deadline Concerns Intensify

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks fell on Thursday as investors did not receive any breakthrough news they were anticipating from the ongoing US-Canada trade negotiations even as the August 1 deadline for avoiding US tariffs ends in a few hours.

After opening higher than yesterday's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index moved higher up to an hour reaching an intra-day high of 27,481.07.

Losing momentum, it slipped to negative territory, and after failing to move up closed at 27,259.78, down by 110.18 (or 0.40%).

The focus of the entire world is fixated on August 1 as the crucial deadline set by the US suspending "reciprocal tariffs" to facilitate trade negotiations ends tomorrow.

Among major US trading partners the UK, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, the EU, and South Korea have reached either a tariff framework agreement or a final deal with the US.

However, India, Canada, Brazil, Iraq, and Mexico are scrambling to find a common path to settle on a trade deal with the US, after months of negotiations not producing significant results.

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump uninterestingly stated that Canada may have only tariffs, not negotiations. However, PM Mark Carney reassured the nation that a landing zone will be figured out without compromising on the interests of Canadian business houses or workforce. He had earlier admitted that some tariffs may have to be digested to sign a deal.

If a deal is not settled by tomorrow midnight, Canada is bound to suffer 35% tariffs on majority of its exports to the US - not covered under USMCA - especially steel and aluminum.

Notably, the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is also up for re-negotiation next year where again Trump may serve more volleys.

On top of it, today Trump commented on his social media platform Truth Social that Canada's recognition of Palestine statehood makes it hard for the US to make a trade deal with them.

Data released by Statistics Canada revealed that the Canadian economy likely expanded by 0.1% in June 2025, rebounding after two consecutive months of contraction.

So far, despite trade disruption, the overall Canadian economy has been showing resilience. Businesses are reorienting the supply chains and export to non-US marketplaces.

On the monetary front, the Bank of Canada has kept the basic lending rate targets unchanged, maintaining overnight rate at 2.75%, with the Bank Rate at 3% and Deposit Rate at 2.70%.

In the same line, the US Fed also kept the lending rates unaltered, yesterday.

As Canada's GDP numbers oscillate between slight losses and tiny gains, investors are eyeing on the developments in the US-Canada trade negotiations in the coming days after the crucial August 1 deadline elapses.

Sector-wise Materials (0.49%) was the only gainer in today's trading.

Among the individual stocks, Ero Copper Corp (4.22%), Kinross Gold Corp (3.79%), Capstone Mining Corp (3.19%), and Lundin Mining Corp (3.06%) were the prominent gainers.

Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Real Estate (0.80%), IT (0.95%), Energy (1.24%), and Healthcare (2.73%).

Among the individual stocks, Torumaline Oil Corp (6.29%), Lightspeed Commerce Inc (5.11%), Enerflex Ltd (3.24%), Ces Energy Solutions Corp (2.95%), and Bausch Health Companies (7.68%) were the notable losers.

Gft Environmental Inc (5.94%), Ero Copper Corp (4.22%), and Kinross Gold Corp (3.79%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.