S&P/TSX composite ticks lower, U.S. stock markets also down

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This article was published 20/03/2025 (371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index ticked lower Thursday after giving back gains from earlier in the day, while U.S. markets also fell. 

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 8.97 points at 25,060.24. 

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 11.31 points at 41,953.32. The S&P 500 index was down 12.40 points at 5,662.89, while the Nasdaq composite was down 59.16 points at 17,691.63.

Markets started the day on a positive note before pulling back through the afternoon.

“Obviously there’s still a lot of uncertainty regarding trade,” said Kevin Headland, chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management.

Markets have been choppy ever since U.S. President Donald Trump levied tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, a move followed by delays, exemptions, and more tariff announcements and threats. Equities have zigzagged on a daily and even hourly basis, though broadly they have sunk.

Headland expects the choppiness to continue as uncertainty over tariffs remains, and as the next tariff deadline — April 2 — looms.

“I don’t see an end to this uncertainty in the near term,” he said. 

“The ebbs and flows of the market right now, I think, are really predicated on that news.” 

In the meantime, investors will eye data for any signals on how the economy is faring, said Headland. 

“I think the market’s trying to seek out something positive right now,” he said. 

For the Bank of Canada, the trade war poses new risks just as the economy and inflation were normalizing.

Governor Tiff Macklem spoke in Calgary on Thursday and signalled a shift in how the central bank will set its benchmark rate going forward amid the trade uncertainty. 

He said they will need to be “flexible and adaptable.” 

“We need to set policy that minimizes the risk,” he said. “That means being less forward-looking than normal until the situation is clearer. And it may mean acting quickly when things crystallize.”

The Bank of Canada cut its key rate earlier this month to 2.75 per cent, while this week the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its own rate steady. The U.S. economy has fared better under interest rate hikes than the Canadian economy. 

The Canadian dollar traded for 69.70 cents US compared with 69.80 cents US on Wednesday. 

The May crude oil contract was up US$1.16 at US$68.07 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 27 cents US at US$3.98 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was up US$2.60 at US$3,043.80 an ounce and the May copper contract was up a penny at US$5.11 a pound.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version said the closing price of the S&P/TSX composite index was 26,060.24.