By Fergal Smith
(Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index ended marginally lower on Thursday, with losses for technology offsetting gains for energy shares as investors weighed economic uncertainty and turned their attention to an expected general election.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 8.97 points, or 0.04%, at 25,060.24, after posting on Wednesday its biggest advance in seven months.
U.S. stocks posted deeper declines as investors weighed notes of caution from world central bank leaders regarding mounting economic uncertainties stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the uncertainty over the effect of tariffs meant it had to change the way it conducted monetary policy to become less forward-looking than normal.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is poised to call a snap federal election on Sunday for April 28, the Globe and Mail reported. Carney captured the Liberal leadership two weeks ago by persuading party members he was the best person to take on Trump.
"With the appointment of Carney as the PM some of the political risk might have declined," said Elvis Picardo, portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth. "The elections could be around the corner but even so the very fact that the nation is no longer headless, I think that’s a positive."
The TSX has added 1.3% since the beginning of the year, which contrasts with a decline of 3.7% for U.S. benchmark the S&P 500.
"It could be a story of better valuations," Picardo said. "We have seen rotation from the high flyers in the U.S. to beaten down markets like Europe and to some extent China and possibly Canada fits that better valuation story as well."
The energy sector added 0.6% as the price of oil settled 1.6% higher at $68.26 a barrel after the United States issued new Iran-related sanctions.
Most other major sectors posted declines, with technology down 0.5%.