The TSX Composite Index clawed its way toward breakeven by the closing bell, but remained in the red 24.97 points at 29,731.98.
However, the benchmark index was still on track for a 10.8% gain for the third quarter, which would be its fifth straight quarterly advance.
On the week, the index is down more than 36 points, or 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.22 cents to 71.74 cents U.S.
Meanwhile, Canada planned to create duty-free access for up to 95% of its exports to Indonesia over the next eight to 12 months, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said, as Canada attempts to diversify its trading partners.
Technology stocks fell 4.3% as Constellation Software dropped $270 points, or 6.5%, to $3,866.91, after the resignation of its president, Mark Leonard.
Heavyweight Shopify retreated $7.14, or 3.5%, to $199.70, but rival Celestica recovered $6.52, or 2%, to $340.75.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry zoomed 55 cents, or 9.3%, to $6.48, after the company raised its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast on the back of strong demand for its cybersecurity software.
Material and gold mining stocks posted gains tracking bullion prices. Wesdome Gold acquired 65 cents, or 3.3%, to $20.57, Kinross Gold grew 59 cents, or 1.8%, to $32.95, and Endeavour Mining tacked on 68 cents, or 1.2%, to $57.39.
Lithium Americas' U.S.-listed shares rose 24% premarket, having jumped more than 90% in the previous session, after Reuters reported that the Trump administration was seeking up to a 10% stake in the company. Shares north of the border triumphed $1.93 or 23.1%, to $10.28.
Air Canada said it expected a hit of $375 million to its operating income from labour disruptions, after its flight attendants went on a four-day strike in August. The Maple Leaf airline’s shares dropped 40 cents, or 2.2%, to finish at $17.98.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 21,600 (+0.1%) in July, following a decline of 9,100 (-0.1%) in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange ignored the negative trend and gained 5.06 points to 920.18. On the week so far, the index has surged 15.4 points, or 1.7%.
Seven of the 12 subgroups had turned positive by the close, as gold moved higher 1.2%, materials were stronger 1.1%, and telecoms improved 0.5%.
The five laggards were weighed most by information technology, down 3.7%, health-care, sliding 1.1%, and telecoms, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell again on Thursday, bogged down by a further pullback in Oracle, as well as a jump in rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials backpedaled 68.26 points to 46,053.02.
The much-broader index dropped 23.7 points to 6,614.27.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ tumbled 67.32 points to 22,430.54.
Oracle slid 5%, putting the stock on track to post a third straight day of losses, as questions over the state of the artificial intelligence trade lingered.
The market action appears to be reflecting concerns about record-high valuations and potentially risky circular relationships in the AI industry after some recent deals.
Through Wednesday’s close, Oracle, which led the latest leg of the bull market, is off more than 10% from its recent high.
Thursday’s decline was partly driven by a sell rating issued in new coverage by Rothschild & Co. Redburn, which predicted a 40% pullback because the “market materially overestimates” how much Oracle’s recent AI deals will boost the company’s core cloud business.
Alongside Oracle, Tesla was among the day’s laggards, falling 4%.
First-time filings for jobless benefits were at a seasonally adjusted 218,000 for the week ended Sept. 20, the Labor Department said Thursday.
That’s below the 235,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated and 14,000 less than the previous period’s revised initial unemployment claims, which had also eased after seeing a brief spike the week before that.
The solid jobs data, as well as a strong upward revision in second-quarter gross domestic product to 3.8%, could mean the Federal Reserve will hesitate before cutting rates again, undermining a key catalyst for the bulls.
Prices for 10-year Treasury sagged Wednesday, raising yields to 4.19% from Wednesday’s 4.15%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 15 cents to $64.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices scraped 2.60 past breakeven to $3,770.70 U.S. an ounce.
