Canada's main stock index fell more than 1% on Monday, as investors were averse to taking risks over persistent worries about the global trade war.
The TSX Composite Index dumped 255.28 points, or 1%, to move into Monday afternoon at 24,503.45.
The Canadian dollar sagged 0.21 cents to 69.36 cents U.S.
Meanwhile, former central banker Mark Carney won the race to become leader of the Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as prime minister.
Carney, a political novice, argued that he was best placed to revive the party and to oversee trade negotiations with Trump, who had threatened additional tariffs on Friday.
Investor focus is also on the Bank of Canada meeting this week, where the central bank is likely to cut interest rates by 25 basis points.
In corporate news, Japan's Seven & i Holdings said that talks have begun with Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard over a store sale plan that would set the stage for ACT's $47 -billion takeover bid.
Couche-Tard shares faltered $1.42, or 2%, to $71.33.
Whitecap Resources fell $1.25, or 13.4%, to $8.10 making it the worst hit on the TSX, after the Canadian oil producer was set to merge with peer Veren in an all-stock deal valued at C$15 billion including debt.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 10.67 points, or 1.7%, early Monday afternoon to 603.63.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground Monday, with information technology sliding 3.3%, while Industrials floundered 1.4%, and materials flopped 1.3% each.
The two gainers proved to be telecoms, ahead 0.9%, while utilities notched better 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped on Monday as the selling pressures that dragged Wall Street last week persisted, with investors worried about an economic slowdown after President Donald Trump didn’t rule out a recession with U.S. tariffs being implemented.
The Dow Jones Industrials cratered 496.01 points to 42,305.71
The much-broader index stumbled 124.06 points, or 2.1%, to 5,646.13.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 622.45 points, or 3.4%, to 17,570.70. Both the 500-stock S&P and tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped to their lowest levels since September 2024.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ was weighed down by declines in the “Magnificent Seven” cohort. Tesla shed 6%, Alphabet fell 4%, Meta lost 3% and AI darling Nvidia slipped 2%.
Stocks have been under pressure as investors fret over a possible recession due to tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. Part of the concern is that these levies could drive prices higher, thus making it harder for the Federal Reserve to lower rates.
In an interview that aired Sunday, Trump responded to a question on Fox News about the possibility of a recession by saying the economy was going through “a period of transition.”
Last week, the S&P 500 lost 3.1% for its worst weekly mark since September. The Dow fell 2.4%, while the NASDAQ shed 3.5%. Over the past month, the S&P 500 has lost 6%. and NASDAQ are down 9%, while the Dow is down 4.5%.
The turbulence could continue this week, with a heavy dose of economic data adding to the list of potential market-moving events. On the inflation front, the February consumer price index release is slated for Wednesday, followed by the producer price index on Thursday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rocketed, lowering yields to 4.23% from Friday’s 4.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 36 cents to $66.68 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold fell $5.50 an ounce to $2,908.60 U.S.
