TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index rose Wednesday while U.S. markets were mixed, after 25 per cent tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum officially kicked in and the Bank of Canada cut its key lending rate by a quarter-point to 2.75 per cent.
“The back and forth on tariffs continues,” said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp.
Markets have been zigzagging for the past week and a half amid daily and even hourly updates on the U.S.‘s trade war with Canada.
Canada announced a second round of retaliatory tariffs Wednesday after U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum went into effect.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 175.14 points at 24,423.34. The strength was led by energy and technology stocks.
The Bank of Canada announced another cut to its key interest rate in a widely expected move.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said the uncertainty caused by tariffs has shaken business and consumer confidence, and that they could cause severe economic damage the longer they are in place.
“The uncertainty alone is already causing harm,” Macklem said.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 82.55 points at 41,350.93. The S&P 500 index was up 27.23 points at 5,599.30, while the Nasdaq composite was up 212.35 points at 17,648.45.
The latest data on U.S. inflation came out Wednesday, showing prices rose at a slower clip last month than expected.
“That’s good news,” said Chopra.
It gives the U.S. Federal Reserve some “wiggle room” for its upcoming interest rate decisions, he said.
The Fed is not expected to cut its key rate at its next meeting, but in the past few weeks, market expectations for how many times it will cut this year have risen amid the uncertainty posed by tariffs.
Chopra cautioned that the inflation data is from before the U.S. began levying tariffs on Canadian goods, so market watchers will be taking the latest report with a grain of salt, he said.
“I think it will take some time for this to clear up, to see what the trend is,” he said.
“There’s just a lot of moving parts.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 69.49 cents US compared with 69.20 cents US on Tuesday.
The April crude oil contract was up US$1.46 at US$67.68 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 37 cents at US$4.08 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was up US$25.90 at US$2,946.80 an ounce and the May copper contract was up eight cents at US$4.82 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
