Canada’s main stock index finished in positive territory Monday despite new U.S. tariffs.
“You’re seeing industrials for example in Canada are struggling. Autos across the board are down quite a bit, both Canada and the U.S., but gold is up so you have some bright spots in materials,” said Adam Ludwick, director of asset allocation at NEI Investments.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 93.89 points at 36,714.12.
U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about US$20 billion worth of Canadian products over the weekend after trade talks collapsed, affecting sectors ranging from textiles to toiletries, tulips and toys.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to roll out retaliatory tariffs by Sept. 8.
Trump further escalated his trade war with Canada on Monday, threatening to hike tariffs on all vehicles, auto parts and steel from Canada to 50% on Jan. 1. The new threat of tariffs — separate from those applied Saturday — would build on existing levies on the car and steel sectors.
Overall, Ludwick said the market was digesting the new tariffs fairly well.
He said that unless companies are specifically tied to some of the new tariffs, they are mostly “not seeing the same drawdown or same kind of risk-off sentiment.”
“For Canada it’s less about the individual stocks and their earnings potential and more about how businesses are going to forecast the next year, (or) two years,” he said.
Sébastien Mc Mahon, chief economist at iA Financial Group, said in a statement that the market reaction on Monday was a signal that investors were not overly optimistic on the prospect of a U.S.-Canada trade deal.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.24 cents US compared with 72.67 cents US on Friday.
Mc Mahon said the loonie is one of the most shorted major currencies, “leaving much less room for further downside.”
Meanwhile, Canada’s big banks are set to report their third-quarter results this week.
“Canadian banks are trading historically at a higher multiple than the U.S. on a relative basis. They’re gonna have to justify that premium,” Ludwick said.
In the U.S. market, stocks drifted to a mixed finish Monday as the countdown ticks toward potentially market-moving events coming later in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 140.15 points at 53,417.16. The S&P 500 index was down 21.51 points at 7,652.86 while the Nasdaq composite was down 200.26 points at 25,980.19.
Tech stocks led the way downward following big swings through the summer.
Chip giant Nvidia has been a tremendous winner of the AI boom and become Wall Street’s largest and most influential stock because of it. It will deliver its latest quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, which could dictate the next big move for AI-related stocks.
The October crude oil contract was down US$2.05 at US$85.01 per barrel, the December gold contract was up US$17.20 at US$4,697.80 an ounce.
—With files from The Associated Press