Canada’s main stock index opened lower on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on auto imports, expanding a global trade war and hammering stocks globally.
The TSX Composite Index eked lower 20.68 points to open Thursday at 25,140.38
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.01 cents to 69.82 cents U.S.
Trump unveiled a 25% tariff on imported vehicles on Wednesday, set to take effect on April 3, a day after he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs.
The Canadian dollar nicked ahead 0.01 cents to 69.96 cents U.S.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada’s Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours rose by 26,800 (+0.1%) in January, following an increase of 66,400 (+0.4%) in December 2024. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 198,900 (+1.1%) in January 2025.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 1.4 points to 639.46.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups gained soon after the opening bell, led by gold, up 2%, while materials grabbed 1,2%, and real-estate surged 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by information technology, down 1.5%, consumer discretionary stocks, ailing 0.7%, and financials, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped Thursday as investors weighed the latest tariff-related news from President Donald Trump, including his new tariffs aimed at foreign automakers.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 55.52 points to 42,510.31.
The S&P 500 Index regained 13.88 points to 5,726.08
The NASDAQ recovered 48.56 points to 17,947.57
Select Big Tech names were down once more, as Nvidia declined about 1%.
Notably, Tesla gained more than 2%.
Shares of several automakers also declined after Trump on Wednesday evening announced 25% tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States,” which will go into effect on April 2. General Motors pulled back 6%, while Stellantis lost more than 2% and Ford slipped 3%.
Trump has long discussed imposing duties on countries that have their own tariffs on U.S. imports and said on Wednesday that his retaliatory tariffs will be permanent for his entire second term.
Still, hints provided by the President this week about the upcoming April 2 levies has given investors some relief. He said Wednesday the tariffs would be “very lenient” and that he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to help further a deal with ByteDance’s TikTok.
At the same time, using tariffs as a negotiating tactic, he threatened on Thursday to impose “far larger” tariffs on the European Union and Canada if they work together to combat trade tariffs.
Trump’s announcements come as investors are already anxious about how his retaliatory tariffs will affect the broader U.S. economy, which is already showing some signs of weakness. Consumer confidence, for example, reached a 12-year low in March, according to a Conference Board report, in the latest indication of broader pessimism toward the economy. The board’s measure follows a similarly weak reading of the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers for March.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded early Thursday, hiking yields to 4.37% from Wednesday’s 4.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched higher nine cents to $69.74 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold gained back $37.10 to $3,059.10 U.S.