Canadian Stocks Give Back Ground Following Recent Strength

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks moved to the downside during trading on Friday, giving back ground following the strong upward move seen over the three previous sessions.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index moved to the downside early in the session and remained in negative territory through the day before eventually closing down 161.97 points or 34,339.99.

Despite the downward move on the day, the S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped by 1.5 percent for the week.

The pullback on Bay Street may have reflected profit taking following the recent strength, which lifted the S&P/TSX Composite Index to a new record closing high on Thursday.

Substantial weakness among technology stocks also weighed on the market, with the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index tumbled by 2.7 percent.

The sell-off my tech stocks may have reflected renewed concerns about AI disruptions after payments company Block, Inc. said it is cutting its workforce by nearly half as it uses AI to automate more work.

Financial stocks also showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the S&P/TSX Capped Financial Index down by 1.9 percent.

Consumer discretionary stocks also saw notable weakness, while communications, energy and gold stocks bucked the downtrend.