12:18 PM EDT, 10/31/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange which was up 70 points in earlier trade, has given up earlier gains and is now down 34 points.

Healthcare, up 2.3%, is the biggest gainer, followed by financials, up 0.3%.

The biggest decliners are the mining and energy sectors, down 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.

According to CIBC's Andrew Grantham, Canadian GDP was "more trick than treat", with the economy contracting in August and only rebounding slightly in September. Grantham said the -0.3% reading for August was weaker than the consensus forecast and advance estimate (0.0%), and although that came off the back of an upwardly revised 0.3% gain in July (from 0.2%) the level of GDP in August is still below consensus estimates. He noted weakness in August was reasonably broad based by sector, led by transportation & warehousing, wholesaling and manufacturing. However, there were some one-off factors at play, such as a flight attendants strike that impacted air transportation and drought conditions that impacted the utilities sector. Still, Grantham noted, a +0.1% advance estimate for September suggests the unwinding of some of these factors was not enough to offset August's decline.

RBC said the preliminary estimate that output rose 0.1% in September left the preliminary estimate of Q3 GDP growth at an annualized +0.4%, just slightly below its (and the Bank of Canada's) +0.5% base case assumption.

"While that represents a modest rebound from the 1.6% (annualized) GDP decline in Q2, much of the downside surprise in August output reflected temporary factors not related to ongoing tariff disruptions. Manufacturing output edged lower to partially retrace a 1% increase in July, but a sharp pullback in air transportation was tied to a strike by airline staff in August, and electricity output fell sharply as drought conditions weighed on hydroelectric power generation," RBC added.

RBC continues to expect broader growth in overall GDP will remain slow, but positive in the near-term. RBC expects growth to improve in 2026 in part supported by increased government deficit spending.

Bloomberg reports that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will soon announce more than 20 investments in critical minerals projects, with a total value of about C$2 billion. The announcements will be made Friday at the Group of Seven energy ministers' meeting in Toronto, Carney said during a speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in South Korea.

Meanwhile, CTV News cited Carney saying Canada's relationship with China is at a "turning point" following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It noted the meeting was hosted by China and lasted just 39 minutes, with the two leaders meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in Gyeongju, South Korea.