Markets in Canada’s largest centre opened lower on Friday, led by losses in technology stocks, as cautious investors parsed key economic data releases and braced for U.S. tariffs scheduled for next week.
The TSX Composite Index dropped 141.59 at the open to 25,019.47.
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.02 cents to 69.90 cents U.S.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that he would respond with unspecified trade actions if Trump does impose the tariffs.
The country's general election, expected to be closely contested, is scheduled for April 28.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada’s reported Gross Domestic Product rose 0.4% in January with increases coming from both goods-producing and services-producing industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 2.36 points to 640.42.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green by the close, led by gold, up 2.6%, while health-care rose 2.2%, and materials jumped 1.7%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by information technology, down 1.1%, energy stocks, off 0.7%, and consumer discretionary stocks, descending 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Friday as investors grappled with ongoing tariff uncertainty and digested key inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrials cratered 438.45 points, or 1%, to 41,861.25
The S&P 500 Index ducked 73.38 points to 5,618.27
The NASDAQ let go of 327.39 points, or 1.8%, to 17,476.64.
Wall Street was headed for a mixed weekly result. The NASDAQ was down 0.4% week to date, while the S&P 500 and Dow are headed for slight weekly advances.
Investors continue to monitor President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, which have roiled the market. Trump this week announced a 25% tariff on “all cars that are not made in the United States,” hitting auto stocks and raising concerns of an economic slowdown.
Car companies have been hit particularly hard by the threat of tariffs. Ford shares took it on the chin 22 cents, or 2.2%, to $9.68, while General Motors lost $1.04, or 2.2%, to $46.16.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that the European Union is identifying concessions it could make to Trump’s administration to reduce the reciprocal tariffs from the U.S. that are set to increase after April 2, when Trump is expected to announce further tariff plans.
Prices for the 10-year treasury rocketed, hiking yields to 4.27% from Thursday’s 4.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumped 52 cents to $69.40 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold gained $23.60 to $3,114.50 U.S.
