Stocks on both sides of the border took major blows Tuesday, as suspense continued to swirl over the prospect of a trade deal coming to fruition between the United States and China.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 135.71 points to finish Tuesday at 16,357.75
The Canadian dollar lost 0.01 to 74.24 cents
Health-care stocks took the brunt of the selloff, with Canopy Growth tanking $2.27, or 3.4%, to $63.88, while Aurora Cannabis slid 39 cents, or 3.3%, to $11.56.
Tech firms were also punished, as BlackBerry backpedaled 21 cents, or 1.7%, to $12.11, while Shopify fell $10.75, or 3%, to $346.39.
Energy lost some of its mojo, with Suncor Energy skidding 19 cents to $42.92, while Imperial Oil let go of 38 cents, or 1%, to $38.12.
The gainers were in gold, such as Barrick Gold picked up 24 cents, or 1.4%, to $17.17, while Kinross Gold gained two cents to $4.14.
In the consumer staples field, Metro took on 44 cents to $49.08, while Loblaw Companies increased $1.44, or 2.2%, to $67.47.
In communications, Rogers Communications added to its price 98 cents, or 1.4%, to $69.42, while Shaw gained 22 cents to $27.34.
Economically speaking, Western University’s IVEY School of Business said its Purchasing Managers Index inched up to 55.9, compared to 54.3 in March, but still way below the 71.5 reading for April 2018.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was negative 4.39 points to end Tuesday at 599.23
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were negative by the close, with health-care down 2.3%, information technology sliding 2.1%, and energy flailing 1.5%.
The three gainers were gold, hiking 2.4%, while consumer staples gained 0.5%, and communications jumped 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a top U.S. trade official indicated that higher tariffs on Chinese goods are coming later this week, disappointing traders who hoped President Donald Trump’s weekend tweet threat was just a negotiation tactic.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 473.39 points, or 1.8%, to 25,965.09, after plunging as much as 648.77 points at its low of the day. It was the Dow’s biggest drop since January 3.
All 30 of Dow components fell and all 11 S&P sectors traded lower in the broad selloff.
The S&P 500 shrank 48.92 points, or 1.7%, to 2,884.05,
The NASDAQ Composite index tumbled 159.53 points, or 2%, to 7,963.76
Shares of trade bellwethers Caterpillar slipped 2.3%, and Boeing fell 3.9%, respectively. Boeing also broke below its 200-day moving average for the first time since January. Chipmakers, especially vulnerable if China retaliates, led the tech sector lower as Nvidia dropped 3.75%. Apple also fell 2.7%.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters that the U.S. will increase levies on Chinese imports on Friday.
Lighthizer made his remarks after President Donald Trump tweeted he would raise current tariffs 10% on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25% on Friday. He also threatened to impose an extra 25% levy on another $325 billion of Chinese goods “shortly.”
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 2.46% from Monday’s 2.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices staggered $1.02 to $61.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $1.80 to $1,285.60 U.S. an ounce.
