Wednesday, December 17, 2025 4:51 PM

TSX Virtually Unchanged

Toronto's main equity index leaned lower by the close on Wednesday, even as cannabis stocks extended a rally on expectations of easing U.S. curbs, while higher commodity prices supported energy and mining firms.

The TSX finished an up-and-down session pointing in the negative range, 13.91 points, to close Wednesday at 31,250.02.

The Canadian dollar sank 0.16 cents to 72.50 cents U.S.

Cannabis firm Curaleaf jumped 25 cents, or 3.9% to $6.48, its highest since May 2024 after a CNN report said U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday reclassifying the drug to ease federal restrictions.

U.S.-listed shares of Canadian cannabis companies Canopy Growth and Tilray Brands rose in premarket trading on Wednesday after a report said Trump was expected to sign an executive order to fast-track reclassification of the drug.

Canopy shares grabbed 13 cents, or 5.1%, to $2.66, while Tilray shares fell $1.34, or 7%, to $17.78.

Financials weighed most on the losing groups, with Sprott sinking $4.08, or 3.1%, to $127.34, while Brookfield Asset Management faded $1.86, or 2.5%, to $71.28.

Among tech issues, Dye & Durham lost 47 cents, or 10.1%, to $4.17, while Celestica dropped $16.72, or 4.2%, to $380.07.

In the industrial sector, Badger Daylighting lost $3.77, or 4.9%, to $72.56, while MDA Inc. dipped $1.77, or 4.6%, to $24.34.

Energy led gainers, with Baytex Energy picking up 19 cents, or 4.6%, to $4.34, while Headwater Exploration gained 31 cents, or 3.6%, to $8.96.

In gold stocks, New Gold obtained 21 cents, or 1.6%, to $11.50, while Alamos Gold picked up 50 cents, or 1%, to $51.88.

In materials, Discovery Silver advanced 40 cents, or 4.6%, to $9.18, while CCL Industries ballooned $2.88, or 3.5%, to $85.72.

On the economic scene, Statistics Canada said foreign investors added $46.6 billion of Canadian securities to their holdings in October, the highest investment since March 2022.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $11.6 billion in October, the first divestment since January 2025.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchanged dipped 3.11 points to 932.46.

Still, eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, led by energy, better by 1.8%, while gold and materials each prospered 0.8%.

The four laggards were weighed by financials, sinking 0.8%, information technology, off 0.5%, and industrials, slipping 0.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks declined on Wednesday as investors continued to rotate out of key artificial intelligence names, sparked by a report that Oracle’s primary investor pulled out of one of its data center projects.

The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 228.10 points to finish Wednesday at 47,886.16.

The S&P 500 dropped 78.75 points, or 1.2%, to 6,721.51.

The NASDAQ tumbled 418.14 points, or 1.8%, to 22,693.23.

Once-hot AI stock Oracle dropped 5% after the Financial Times reported that Blue Owl Capital’s plans to finance the cloud infrastructure company’s $10-billion Michigan data center fell through, with people familiar with the matter pointing to concerns about Oracle’s debt and spending levels. Oracle has since disputed the report and said the project is moving forward.

Risky financing schemes tied to companies’ data center buildout plans have kept investors on edge in recent weeks. The spotlight on Oracle during the session comes after the company just last week refuted a Bloomberg report that said it had delayed some projects for OpenAI to 2028.

Other stocks tied to the AI trade fell in sympathy on Wednesday. Chipmaker Broadcom — another stock that has led the recent rotation out of tech — lost 4%. Nvidia lost 3%, while Advanced Micro Devices lost 5%. Google parent Alphabet declined 3%.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released early Tuesday its November job report, which also included data from October. The findings pulled back the curtain on the U.S.' economic health following a federal data backup caused by the U.S. government shutdown this fall.

The report showed the U.S. economy shed 105,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% — its highest level since September 2021. However, 64,000 jobs were added in November, topping the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 45,000.

On the economic front, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams are slated to speak on Wednesday morning.

Traders are also looking ahead to Thursday’s release of the consumer price index reading for November.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury listed lower, raising yields to 4.16% from Tuesday’s 4.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices recovered $1.38 to $56.65.

Gold prices bounced $43.20 to $4,375.50.