(fxcue news) - The Canadian market, which opened modestly lower Thursday morning, continues to languish in negative territory in afternoon trades with stocks from several sectors reeling under sustained selling pressure. Energy, materials and communications shares are among the major losers. Healthcare, utilities and financials shares are also mostly weak. Lower commodity prices, and concerns about trade war following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat of tariff hikes are weighing on stocks. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 257.66 points or 1% at 25,400.04 a little while ago. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is down 6%. New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) is declining by about 5.7%. Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), Calibre Mining (CXB.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Capstone Copper Corp (CS.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) are down 3 to 4.5%. B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Telus Corporation (T.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Freehold Royalties (FRU.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) are also down sharply. Empire Company Limited (EMP.A.TO) shares are gaining 7.5% after the company reported net earnings of $173.4 million ($0.73 per share) for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to $181.1 million ($0.72 per share) in the second quarter of financial year 2024. For the quarter, the Company recorded adjusted net earnings of $173.4 million ($0.73 per share) compared to $178.3 million ($0.71 per share) last year. Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) is gaining 6.8%. Transcontinental (TCL.B.TO) is up 4.5%. Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) and Bausch+Lomb (BLCO.TO) are up nearly 3%. Propel Holdings (PRL.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Senvest Capital (SEC.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Loblaw Companies (L.TO) and Winpak (WPK.TO) are up 1 to 2.3%. Transat A.T. Inc. (TRZ.TO) is up more than 4%. The company reported a net income of $41.2 million or $1.05 per share for the quarter ended October 31, 2024, compared to $3.2 million or $0.08 per share in the year-ago quarter. In economic news, data from Statistics Canada said the total value of building permits in Canada fell 3.1% month-over-month to $12.61 billion in October, retreating from an 11.5% increase in the previous month.