Canadian Stocks Recover From Early Sell-Off But Close Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - After ending yesterday's choppy session modestly higher, Canadian stocks showed a notable move back to the downside in early trading on Wednesday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index showed a notable recovery attempt going into the close of trading but still ended the day down 32.80 points or 0.1 percent at 24,841.68. The index had slumped by as much as 1.5 percent.

The early weakness on Bay Street came after the U.S. Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first three months of 2025.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product fell by 0.3 percent in the first quarter after surging by 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. Economists had expected GDP to rise by 0.4 percent.

The unexpected dip by GDP primarily reflected an increase in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP.

A separate report released by Statistics Canada showed Canadian real gross domestic product dipped by 0.2 percent in February, partly offsetting January's 0.4 percent increase.

Statistics Canada said activity in goods-producing industries drove the decline, falling by 0.6 percent, while activity in services-producing industries edged down by 0.1 percent.

Despite the subsequent recovery attempt by the broader market, energy stocks remained under pressure amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil, crude the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index down by 2.3 percent.

Significant weakness also remained visible among technology stocks, while consumer staples, telecom and utilities stocks showed strong moves to the upside over the course of the session.