Canadian Stocks Close Modestly Lower Following Recent Strength

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher over the past few sessions, Canadian stocks gave back some ground during trading on Friday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index saw some volatility as the day progressed but largely maintained a negative bias before closing down 17.02 points or 0.1 percent at 24,710.51.

The modest pullback by the S&P/TSX Composite Index came after it ended Thursday's session at its best closing level since the day U.S. President Donald Trump initially announced his "reciprocal tariff" plans.

Profit taking may have contributed to the pullback on Bay Street, while some negative sentiment may also been generated by a Statistics Canada report showing Canadian retail sales fell by 0.4 percent in February amid a steep drop in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada said core Canadian retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, climbed by 0.5 percent in February.

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, although gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the S&P/TSX Capped Global Gold Index down by 1.7 percent.

Industrial stocks also showed a notable move to the downside, while some strength was visible among healthcare stocks.