Canada's main stock index opened marginally higher on Monday, helped by telecom stocks, as investors shunned risky assets amid concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming tariffs will hurt the global economy.
The TSX Composite Index inched up 4.48 to open Monday and the week at 24,763.63.
The Canadian dollar settled 0.31 cents to 69.57 cents U.S.
Consulting services firm CGI entered into an agreement to acquire Apside, a digital and engineering services firm in France. CGI shares gained 16 cents to $40.69.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tanked 11.26 points, or 1.8%, to 622.37.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the red to begin Monday, with information technology sliding 3%, health-care failing 1.5%, and materials, off 1.4%.
The five gainers were led by telecoms, up 1.3%, consumer staples, ahead 1.1%, and consumer discretionary stocks, moving higher 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Monday, bringing the S&P 500 back into correction territory, as traders nervously looked ahead to President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
The Dow Jones Industrials waned 190.59 points, to 41,393.31.
The S&P 500 Index docked 64.49 points, or 1.1%, to 5,517.20
The NASDAQ lost 379.33 points, or 2.2%, to 16,941.55
Tech giants Nvidia and Meta Platforms fell 4.3% and 2.6%, respectively, to lead markets lower. Tesla also lost 5.3%. Tech stocks have struggled to recapture their meteoric rise from last year that was spurred by rising artificial intelligence sentiment. AI darling Nvidia, for example, is now more than 31% off its 52-week high.
The broad market index is more than 10% below a record set in February. It also hit its lowest level since September on Monday. The tech-heavy NASDAQ also reached levels not seen since September and is 16% below its all-time high set in December.
A slew of tariffs previously announced by the Trump administration will go into effect on Wednesday — what Trump has called “Liberation Day” — including a 25% levy on “all cars that are not made in the United States.”
The president is also expected to announce his plan for reciprocal duties aimed at countries that impose tariffs on U.S. imports.
Trump did little to assuage fears over the weekend, with The Wall Street Journal reporting Sunday that the president had in recent days pushed his advisors to get more aggressive when it comes to tariffs. In a Saturday interview with NBC News, Trump said he couldn’t care less” if foreign automakers raise their prices due to these new tariffs.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rocketed, hiking yields to 4.21% from Friday’s 4.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices restrengthened $1.30 to $70.66 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold gained $32.20 to $3,146.50 U.S.
