By Twesha Dikshit and Sukriti Gupta
Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Thursday as investors assessed latest U.S. tariff threats and awaited signs of progress on trade talks.
The commodity-heavy S&P/TSX index rose 0.1% at 27,010.05 points.
“The economy is a little bit stronger than many have thought, but I think with all these uncertainties and headwinds of tariffs, etc. it’s weakening,” said Steve Palmer, president and chief investment officer at AlphaNorth Asset Management.
“The markets are at all-time highs and that doesn’t really make much sense to me given the macro factors.”
Consumer discretionary stocks rose 0.6%, helped by a 1.6% rise in autoparts manufacturer Magna International’s shares.
Industrial stocks gained 0.7% as Air Canada rose 4.4%.
Conversely, technology stocks fell 0.6%. Electronics firm Celestica was down 4.4%, while software company Lightspeed Commerce declined 2.8%.
Energy shares lost 0.7%, tracking a fall in oil prices. Baytex Energy was down 1.5%.
Mining shares were down 0.3%, with G Mining and Lundin Gold down more than 2% each.
Canada is finishing up a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian nations in an attempt to expand into new markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a new 50% tariff on copper starting August 1 and threatened to slap 50% levies on exports from Brazil. He also issued new tariff letters to seven minor trading partners.
Canada, which aims to reach a trade deal with Washington by July 21, could impose counter-duties on the U.S. if no agreement is reached.
Among individual stocks, uranium producer Energy Fuels jumped 13.3% to the top of the benchmark index.
In company news, Canada Goose’s private equity backer, Bain Capital, is considering a sale of its stake in the luxury brand, Bloomberg News reported.
Investors will also closely assess Friday’s Canadian jobs data to gauge how the economy is holding up under tariff-related pressures.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Shreya Biswas)