TORONTO — Losses in industrial stocks weighed on the Toronto market as Canada's main stock index finished lower on Friday, while U.S. stock markets were mixed amid a quieter trading day.
Steve Locke, chief investment officer for fixed income and multi-asset strategies at Mackenzie Investments, said trading on Friday was “muted” compared to what has taken place in previous weeks.
“When you look across fixed income and equities today, it certainly doesn't stand out as a more volatile day, probably less than average recently,” he said.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 72.92 points at 27,314.01.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 142.30 points at 44,342.19. The S&P 500 index was down 0.57 points at 6,296.79, while the Nasdaq composite was up 10.01 points at 20,895.66.
Locke said it is possible that some of the TSX performance was a reaction to potential consolidation in the U.S. railway industry.
Norfolk Southern chugged 2.5 per cent higher after an AP source said it’s talking with Union Pacific about a merger to create the largest railroad in North America, one that would connect the East and West Coasts. Any such deal, though, would likely face tough scrutiny from U.S. regulators. Union Pacific’s stock fell 1.2 per cent.
“Sometimes, even though companies are not directly involved necessarily in some of those headlines that we see, there could be implications for those businesses if they're in the same sector, same industry, or perhaps adjacent in some way through their supply chain or their interaction with those businesses,” Locke said.
Meanwhile, the heaviest weight on the U.S. market was Netflix, which fell 5.1 per cent despite reporting a stronger-than-expected profit. Analysts said the share price decline wasn’t a surprise given the stock had already soared 43 per cent for the year so far heading into its earnings release, six times more than the gain for the S&P 500.
American Express likewise delivered better-than-expected financial results, but its stock lost 2.3 per cent. Analysts pointed to slowing growth in some underlying trends, such as the number of cards it issued.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.89 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
Locke said there has been a modest rebound in the U.S. dollar recently.
“Obviously, after a period of weakness for the U.S. dollar really dating back to closer to the beginning of the year, I think we're seeing a little bit of a rebound here just based on the U.S. dollar being oversold,” he said.
"As we think through the next few quarters, I would anticipate that we might see a resumption of a little bit of U.S. dollar weakness versus the Canadian dollar and on a trade-weighted basis globally."
Going forward, he said he anticipates a resumption of weakness facing the U.S. dollar versus the Canadian dollar.
The September crude oil contract was down 18 cents US at US$66.05 per barrel. The August gold contract was up US$13 at US$3,358.30 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press
