TORONTO — Stock markets on both sides of the border took a steep tumble Monday as the reality of a U.S.-Canada trade war took further hold, with the TSX losing almost 400 points, while the blue-chip Dow was down almost 900 points and the Nasdaq was four per cent lower.
"Today is a big, big down day by any measure," said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 378.05 points at 24,380.71, recovering some ground after dipping by more than 500 points earlier in the day.
The slide wasn't a broad-based one, however. Base metals, tech, financials and industrials led the way down while telecom and utilities stocks rose.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 890.01 points at 41,911.71, or more than two per cent. The S&P 500 index was down 155.64 points or 2.7 per cent at 5,614.56, and tech stocks performed worst of all, with the Nasdaq composite down by 727.90 points or four per cent at 17,468.32.
Monday's slide was preceded by a choppy trading week after U.S. President Donald Trump introduced tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, then walked some of the tariffs back not long after while simultaneously threatening more were on their way. Markets responded to the whipsaw moves with some flip-flopping of their own over concerns about what Trump's moves could do to the economy.
"It literally was changing not even day by day, but hour by hour," said Currie.
He pointed to comments made by Trump on Sunday in an appearance on Fox News as the likely culprit for Monday's slide.
Trump was asked whether he expected a recession in 2025, and wouldn't rule out the possibility: "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big."
"This seems to be one of the first times the President is sort of not as optimistic as he has been in the past," said Currie.
Though talk of a recession is never positive for investors, Currie said it's important to take it with a grain of salt.
Based on historical moves, the market may have been due for a correction after a long stretch of above-average gains and record highs, he said.
"It is a very bad day, no two ways about that, but in terms of the context of the overall market and how we've been doing ... (it's) not time to panic just yet."
The Canadian dollar traded for 69.30 cents US compared with 69.58 cents US on Friday.
In addition to ongoing uncertainty over tariffs, this week will bring an interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada, which is expected to cut again.
The April crude oil contract was down US$1.01 at US$66.03 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up 10 cents at US$4.49 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was down US$14.7 at US$2,899.40 an ounce and the May copper contract was down four cents at US$4.67 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
