News of Sino-American tariffs taking effect rattled markets all over North America Tuesday, as investors coming back from a long weekend tried to find their footing.
The S&P/TSX Composite survived an early sharp drop, and recovered to within 42.84 points to close Tuesday’s session at 16,399.23
The Canadian dollar faded 0.06 cents to 74.96 cents U.S.
Health-care showed most significant growth Monday, as HEXO Corp. took hold of 18 cents, or 3.4%, to $5.53, while Aphria jumped 26 cents, or 3.1%, to $8.65.
Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold vaulted 31 cents, or 4.7%, to $6.93, while Yamana Gold gathered 11 cents, or 2.3%, to $4.92.
In the materials sector, Endeavour Mining gained $1.05, or 4.1%, to $27.00, while First Majestic Silver prospered 57 cents, or 3.9%, to $15.05.
Consumer discretionary stocks sent south Monday, as Martinrea International descended 31 cents, or 3%, to $9.90, while Linamar lost $1.11, or 2.7%, to $39.33
In the industrial sector, Finning International stumbled $1.47, or 6.4%, to $21.61, while Ag Growth International $1.89, or 4.4%, to $41.45
Energy also got bruised, as Gran Tierra Energy dropped 13 cents, or 6.9%, to $1.76, while MEG Energy shed 17 cents, or 3.4%, to $4.90.
On the economic front, the IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index, a measure of manufacturing business conditions, fell to a seasonally adjusted 49.1 in August, a three-month low, from 50.2 in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.92 points to 592.28
The 12 Toronto subgroups were split down the middle on the day, as health-care climbed 2.4%, gold improved 1.6%, and materials bettered themselves 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by consumer discretionary and industrials, which each backtracked 1.5% while energy fell back 1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Tuesday, the first trading day of a historically tough month, after the world’s two largest economies began imposing new tariffs on each other’s goods. Weak manufacturing data also dented investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average folded 285.26 points, or 1.1%, to 26,118.02
The S&P 500 dipped 20.19 points, to 2,906.27
The NASDAQ Composite fell 88.72 points to 7,874.16.
The Dow dropped 1.7% and S&P 500 lost 1.8% in August. The NASDAQ chopped 2.6% last month.
Retail stocks fell broadly, led by declines in Signet Jewelers and Guess. Signet dropped 9.5% while Guess lost 8.1%.
Chipmakers such as Nvidia lost 2%, and Skyworks Solutions fell 1.5%. Retail stocks Ulta Beauty, Tiffany and Nike all traded lower. Boeing and Caterpillar both declined more than 1.6% while Apple descended 1.5%. Boeing was also under pressure after a report said the 737 Max jet could remain grounded through the holiday season.
Equities hit their session lows after the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity contracted last month for the first time since early 2016.
The U.S. imposed 15% tariffs on a variety of Chinese goods on Sunday, while China imposed new charges on U.S. products from Sept. 1. It marked the latest escalation in their long-running trade war.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, pushing yields down to 1.47% from Friday’s 1.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gave back $1.17 to $53.93 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices finished positive $25.50 to $1,554.90 U.S. an ounce.
