Canada’s main stock index fell on Wednesday as investors let concern over US President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs on automobiles get the better of them. Mining and tech shares led the drop on the TSX while the energy and utilities markets supported most of the gains.
Traders assessed the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting. The central bank had opted to leave interest rates unchanged at the meeting, with Chair Jerome Powell indicating that they would only cut the rates if inflation and employment data warranted it. Earlier, Trump said he wants to impose auto tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25 per cent” along with similar duties on semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports.
The Canadian dollar traded for 70.28 cents US compared to 70.49 cents US on Tuesday.
US crude futures traded $0.45 higher at US$72.30 a barrel, and the Brent contract rose $0.28 to US$76.12 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$5.22 to US$2,934.79.
In world markets, the Nikkei was down 105.79 points to ¥39,164.61, the Hang Seng was down 32.57 points to HK$22,944.24 the FTSE was down 54.20 points to ₤8,712.53, and the DAX was down 410.87 points to €22,433.63.
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(Top image generated with AI.)