Canada’s main stock index fell sharply on Thursday as uncertainties about a trade war dented investor sentiment, even after U.S. President Donald Trump gave automakers a one-month exemption from his 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
At 10:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), the S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.9% at 24,646.74.
Trump will exempt automakers from the stringent tariffs as long as they comply with the terms of an existing free-trade agreement, the White House said on Wednesday.
However, the president has made it clear that he was not calling off his tariffs on the two countries, pressing them to deter fentanyl smuggling.
“The challenge is that no one can really anticipate or predict what Trump is going to do at any given point in time,” said Shiraz Ahmed, senior portfolio manager and founder of Sartorial Wealth at Raymond James.
TSX hits near two-month low as US tariffs take effect
“The anxiousness is likely spilling over into the markets at the moment… The market and everybody are just walking on eggshells and anticipating more bad than good.”
The technology sector fell 1.2% on Thursday, having slipped nearly 13% from its all-time high three weeks ago.
The financial sector, which has the highest weighting on the main index, lost 1.3%.
A major driver for overall losses on the TSX was Wall Street, where the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1.5% as sentiments around a global trade war weighed.
However, materials shares on the TSX rose 0.4%, boosted by copper prices.
On the economic front, Canada’s trade surplus exceeded expectations by a wide margin to post a 32-month record in January, as exports of cars and energy products rose amid tariff woes, especially to the U.S.
Among individual stocks, shares of Aecon Group lost more than 12% after the construction company missed fourth-quarter revenue expectations.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.