TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index finished lower on Thursday, weighed down by losses in the technology sector, while U.S. markets were mostly flat as markets digested U.S. wholesale inflation data.
Michael Greenberg, portfolio manager for Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions, said much of the market movements came from the recently released macroeconomic data out of the U.S.
“I think it all stemmed really from the earlier report on PPI inflation that obviously came in a bit hotter than expected and I think the market and market participants are really trying to figure out, what is the effect of tariffs going to be on inflation and then who’s going to end up having to pay for that?” he said.
“Is it going to be more of the consumer, is it going to be more corporates and of course, if it’s more corporates, that could have implications for margins and earnings and could create some volatility, especially with valuations where they are in the stock market.”
U.S. wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly last month, signalling that U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping taxes on imports are pushing costs up and that higher prices for consumers may be on the way.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.9 per cent last month from June, the biggest jump in more than three years. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices rose 3.3 per cent.
Greenberg said the current market is keenly tracking macroeconomic data that may influence what the U.S. Federal Reserve may do at its next meeting.
Wednesday’s PPI numbers were much higher than economists had expected and forced traders to second-guess their widespread consensus that the U.S. Federal Reserve will deliver some help next month by cutting interest rates.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 11.01 points at 44,911.26. The S&P 500 index was up 1.96 points at 6,468.54, while the Nasdaq composite was down 2.47 points at 21,710.67.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 77.44 points at 27,915.99.
On the TSX, Greenberg said declines in the tech sector weighed on the overall index as shares of Shopify Inc. fell 3.54 per cent.
“In Canada, within our tech sector, it’s much smaller than the tech sector in the U.S. and more influenced by single stocks, such as Shopify,” he said.
“So when Shopify is down relatively more than other parts of the market, it has a bigger influence on our index. And I think that’s part of what we’re seeing today with a little bit of underperformance of the Canadian stock market versus the U.S.”
Greenberg noted that tech stocks in Canada and the U.S. have driven markets for much of the year.
“I think it could be just a fact that there’s a little bit of profit-taking there, a little bit of a breather from a sector that’s just done so well,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.43 cents US compared with 72.64 cents US on Wednesday.
The September crude oil contract was up US$1.31 cents US at US$63.96 per barrel. The December gold contract was down US$25.10 at US$3,383.20 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD, TSX: SHOP)
