TSX Loses Momentum

Canada's main stock index edged lower on Tuesday, dragged by heavyweight mining shares, while investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff proposals for several trading partners.

The TSX Composite Index faltered 99.53 points to move into Tuesday afternoon at 26,920.75

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 73.12 cents U.S.

Among individual stocks, logistics-provider Mullen Group slipped eight cents, to $14.36, after brokerage CIBC downgraded the company's rating.

Bombardier's shares gained $2.19, or 1.4%, to $155.29, after CIBC raised its target price.

Aura Minerals said it is preparing to list its shares on NASDAQ, in a move that could fetch the Canadian gold and copper miner a valuation of $2.14 billion. Aura shares moved downward six cents to $35.75.

Trump on Monday sent letters to 14 nations, including Japan and South Korea, threatening sharply higher tariffs on U.S. imports, while also postponing their implementation to August 1.

He added that the deadline was not 100% firm and he would consider extensions if countries made proposals. Countries have been under pressure to seal deals with the U.S. after Trump launched a global trade war in April, which rattled financial markets and prompted policymakers to protect their economies.

Canada, which recently canceled a digital service tax on U.S. technology companies to preserve trade talks with Trump, aims to reach an agreement by July 21.

Federal Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has reportedly asked all ministries to find savings, assess spending on programs, cut down on work duplication and look to reallocate funds from other programs to priority projects.

On the economic calendar, the IVEY School of Business said its index registered at 53.3 in June, down from a 48.9 reading in May, and way off the 62.5 level in June 2024.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 9.3 points, or 1.2%, to pause for lunch at 748.32.

Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive midday, with telecoms ahead 1.8%, energy, surging 2%, and industrials, better by 0.8%.

The four laggards were weighed most by gold, cratering 4.9%, materials, lower 3.6%, and information technology, off 0.9%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks crawled out from negative readings from after President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered no exceptions to his Aug. 1 tariff start date.

The Dow Jones Industrials remained negative 57.2 points to 44,349.16.

The S&P 500 index found some positive energy, up 3.19 points to 6,233.15.

The NASDAQ Composite gained 18.07 points to 20,430.58.

Nvidia shares rose 0.6% on Tuesday. The chipmaker is also closing in on reaching a $4 trillion market cap. Tesla shares also rebounded 3% after losing 6.1%.

On the other hand, big banks were the worst performing cohort after HSBC adopted a “more cautious stance” on larger banks. Shares of JPMorgan and Bank of America shed 3%, while Goldman Sachs slipped 2%.

Trump late Monday said the new Aug. 1 tariff deadline is “not 100% firm,” adding that “If they call up and they say something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”

His comments came after he posted letters to countries announcing new tariffs on their respective imports.

Stocks sold off Monday following Trump’s posts, with the Dow tumbling more than 400 points, after the president set 25% tariffs on goods imported from South Korea and Japan.

Overall, at least 14 countries are set to face new duties including South Africa and Kazakhstan.

However, some traders no longer forecast the latest U.S. tariffs to be as strict as initially feared, with many expecting that the worst from the trade war has now passed.

Prices for the 10-year treasury were lower, raising yields to 4.42% from Monday’s 4.39%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices recovered 41 cents to $68.34 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices dropped $35.60 to $3,317.20 U.S. an ounce.