Canada’s main stock index opened lower on Tuesday, hurt by losses in heavily-weighted financials, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned announcement of reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday.
The TSX Composite Index withered 148.94 points to start Tuesday at 24,768.56.
The Canadian dollar nicked higher 0.07 cents to 69.56 cents U.S.
First Quantum Minerals said on Monday it had agreed to discontinue two arbitration proceedings related to its Cobre Panama copper mine. First Quantum shares jumped 71 cents, or 3.7%, to $20.06.
Trump is set to announce “reciprocal tariffs” to bring U.S. tariffs to other countries’ levels on Wednesday. He said on Sunday the levies will include all countries, but specific details were scant.
The announcement will come at 3 pm ET on Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Monday.
Further, the White House aides have drafted a proposal to impose tariffs of around 20% on most imports to the U.S., the Washington Post reported.
In news macroeconomic, Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI for March declined to 46.3 from February’s 47.8.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 4.22 points to 624.08.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the red begin Tuesday, with telecoms down 1.6%, while health-care lost 0.9% and financials settled 0.8%.
The three gainers were consumer staples and real-estate, each up 0.2%, and utilities, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 hovered near the flatline on Tuesday as the market awaited clarity from President Donald Trump regarding his tariff policy rollout. Wall Street also faced pressure stemming from weaker-than-expected economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 203.67 points to 41,798.09
The broader index dropped 10.14 points to 5,601.71.
The NASDAQ regained 11.05 points to 17,314,33
Investors got another sour reading on the economy Tuesday due to the threat of tariffs, with the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing survey coming in lighter than expected and in contraction territory. February’s job openings were also slightly below estimates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is considering implementing tariffs of about 20% to most imports into the U.S. To be sure, the report — which cited three sources familiar with the matter — noted that no final decision had been made.
The uncertainty has put stocks on a rollercoaster ride. The S&P 500 on Monday touched a six-month low before recovering. For the first quarter, the index lost 4.6%, while the NASDAQ Composite dropped 10%. That marked the worst quarterly performance for both benchmarks since 2022. The Dow dropped 1.3% during the first three months of the year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rocketed, lowering yields to 4.15% from Monday’s 4.22%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices crawled up eight cents to $71.56 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold advanced $8.50 to $3,158.90 U.S.