Toronto Stocks Continue Retreat; Thomson Reuters' Reassurance on AI Fails to Offset Broader Tech Gloom

By Adriano Marchese

Toronto-listed stocks continued their decline Thursday mid-trading, with the lion's share of the declines from Canadian miners which are feeling the pressure of retreating precious metals prices. Process industries, energy and communications stocks also were in decline, while only health services posted any gains in the session.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 1.3% to 32142.34 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 declined by 1%% to 1867.84.

Thomson Reuters Chief Executive Steve Hasker downplayed fears that artificial intelligence is undermining its business. The reassurance wasn't enough to offset gloomy sentiment across the tech sector. Shares traded 3.9% lower at 122.93 Canadian dollars ($89.96), paring back from gains earlier in the morning.

Other market movers:

Shares of luxury winter apparel company Canada Goose fell by more than 18% to C$14.80 after posting higher costs and marketing spend in its fiscal third quarter that bit into profit during its critical holiday and Christmas period.

Canadian mining stocks were retreating in lockstep with declining silver and gold prices. Barrick Mining and Kinross Gold slid, falling 6.5% and 4.6%, respectively. Smaller players in the space also felt the pressure, with Discovery Silver falling 10%, Endeavour Silver declining 8.8% and First Majestic Silver sliding 7.5%.

Barrick Mining also said it will spin off its North American gold assets into a separate company as the mining major seeks to boost value at a time when prices for the precious metal remain elevated.

Canadian communications giant BCE anticipates modest revenue growth over this year after little change in revenue for the final quarter of last year. Shares fell 3.4% to C$34.65.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2026 12:39 ET (17:39 GMT)