TSX Futures Dip as Trade War Grows


The TSX Composite Index remained in the green 86.02 points Thursday to 24,192.81. During an Easter-shortened week, the index jumped 605 points, or 2.57%.

June futures were off 0.2% Monday.

The Canadian dollar hiked 0.19 cents to 72.41 cents U.S.

China on Monday accused Washington of abusing tariffs, and its warning to other countries followed a report that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration was pressuring countries to curb trade with the world's second-largest economy.

The Canadian stock market also takes cues from Wall Street, where index futures down after Trump's scathing attack against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sparked worries about the central bank's independence.

At home, Canada enters the final week of election campaigning before voters head to poll on April 28.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's campaign platform plans released on Saturday include tax cuts and new spending on infrastructure and defence, as he pledges a new economic order that is less reliant on the U.S.

Among sectors, Canadian gold mining companies could get support from the yellow metal hitting record highs, buoyed by safe-haven flows.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange popped 8.83 points, or 1.4%, Wednesday to 638.87.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures fell again on Monday following yet another negative trading week for Wall Street, as investors receive little signs of progress on global trade talks.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials swooned 449 points, or 1.2% to 38,880

Futures for the fell 69.75 points, or 1.3%, to 5,243.50

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite collapsed 270 points, or 1.5%, to 18110.75.

A nearly 6% decline in Nvidia last week also put pressure on the broader market. The artificial intelligence darling disclosed Tuesday that it will record a quarterly charge of about $5.5 billion due to controls around exporting its H20 graphics processing units to China and other destinations.

Investors are looking ahead to a key earnings week, as more than 100 S&P 500 companies are due to report over the coming days. That includes “Magnificent Seven” names Alphabet and Tesla, and others like aerospace giant Boeing.

The moves come after each of the three major averages logged a third weekly decline in the last four trading weeks. While the S&P 500 closed out Thursday’s session higher, the broad market index still finished the holiday-shortened week 1.5% lower. The Dow and NASDAQ posted their third consecutive losing session, each finishing the week with a more than 2% pullback for the four-day period.
U.S. markets were closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday.

Heightened concern surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs have weighed on Wall Street recently. The major averages are down around 7% since April 2, when Trump announced a raft of levies on imports from other countries.

Over the weekend, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said in a CBS interview that the tariffs could lead U.S. economic activity to “fall off” by the summer. That follows Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressing concern Wednesday that the president’s levies could present difficulty for the central bank in controlling inflation and spurring economic growth.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index skidded 1.3% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng retreated 0.3%.

Oil prices docked $1.65 to $63.03 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices soared $72.00 to $3,400.40 U.S. an ounce.

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