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TSX Tumbles More Than 500 Points at Midday as Materials Weigh

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The Toronto Stock Market tumbled more than 500 points at midday, with materials (-6.2%) the outsized decliner, weighed down by lower gold prices.

Energy, up 1.3% is the best performer, boosted by rising oil prices as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

In Canada, manufacturing sales hit their highest level since January 2025, rising 3.0% to $73.6 billion in March, StatsCan reported today. Sales rose in nine of the 21 subsectors, led by the petroleum and coal product (+22.7%) and transportation equipment (+6.0%) subsectors. Manufacturing sales rose in eight provinces in March with Ontario and Alberta posting the largest increases.

Canadian housing starts came in at 279.3k annualized units in April, marking a 17% month-on-month increase from March's level.

TD said April's starts bounce-back was larger than expected and suggests some upside risk to the bank's view on residential investment's contribution to GDP to begin in the second quarter. However, recent easing in building permits signals some near-term cooling for starts, it added.

"Despite April's uptick, housing starts are down so far this year compared to the end of 2025, on a six-month moving average basis. We think this trend will continue for the remainder of this year amid weak population growth, elevated unsold inventories, and past weakness in pre-sales in key markets. Activity next year could see some support from recent government actions to cut taxes on new homes," TD said.

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National Bank of Canada Lowers Lithium Americas' Price Target to C$7.25 from C$7.50

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