Canada’s main stock index rose on Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump backed down from his tariff threats against Ottawa (for a month, at least). The mining and energy sectors led gains on the TSX, though the threat of a US- China trade war ignited demand fears on crude oil and pushed prices down.
The Chinese government hit the US with tariffs of up to 15 per cent on coal and liquefied natural gas imports and 10 per cent higher duties on crude oil, farm equipment and selected cars, effective Feb. 10th. Traders assessed labour data for December, which said openings were down by 556,000 from a month earlier at 7.6 million and more than a million from last year, now they wait for January’s nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, which is expected to paint a clearer picture on the employment scene.
The Canadian dollar traded for 69.84 cents US compared to 68.65 cents US on Monday.
US crude futures traded $0.60 lower at US$72.56 a barrel, but the Brent contract added $0.04 to US$76.00 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$23.94 to US$2,842.74.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 278.28 points to ¥38,798.37, the Hang Seng was up 572.70 points to HK$20,789.96, the FTSE was down 12.79 points to ₤8,570.77, and the DAX was up 77.46 points to €21,505.70.
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(Top image generated with AI.)