Canadian Stocks Ends Lower As Trade Tensions Resurface

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks slipped on Monday amid lingering global trade uncertainty and ongoing US-Canada tariff negotiations.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index pushed its way to reach an intraday high of 27,100.16 within an hour after opening. However, unable to hold on to that level, it turned downwards to settle marginally lower at 27,020.28, down by 15.88 (or 0.06 %).

Notably, last Friday, despite lower trading volumes due to July 4 Holiday in the US, the index ended the session at a new record high of 27,036.16.

As the July 9 tariff deadline set by the US President Donald Trump is approaching, investors took confidence in the government's commitment to come up with a trade deal by July 21.

Ahead of the high-level negotiations, the US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra also stated that he anticipates a "win-win" outcome from the talks.

As countries are hustling to finalize a trade deal with the US, Trump's government is sending letters from Monday noon to around 170 countries stating the new tariffs they are levied. These tariffs will come into play from August 1.

Trump today threatened to impose additional 10% tariff on BRICS nations and their allies, as he termed them "Anti-American".

A US trade deal with China was almost done weeks before and a deal with India is on the verge of closing. It needs to be seen how the new tariff threat impedes bilateral trade relation of US with these nations.

Expectations of US Fed advancing their rate cut before September is now out of discussion after last week's US jobs data revealed decent numbers.

Canada is trying to wean itself off from reliance on the US where it sends around 75% of its exports. To sidestep US, Canada is expanding its non-US business relations.

Canadian CEOs are visiting India later this year to sign business agreements. Last week, the country began shipping Natural Gas to South Korea with the first shipment of LNG from British Columbia already set off.

Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Utilities (0.11%), Consumer Discretionary (0.15%), Healthcare (0.19%), Industrials (0.19%), Financials (0.32%), IT (0.37%), Energy (0.65%), and Real Estate (1.20%).

Among the individual stocks, Nuvista Energy (3.56%), Enerflex (2.90%), H&R Real Estate (3.21%), and First Capital REIT (2.37%) were the notable losers.

Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Materials (1.17%) and Communication Services (0.59%).

Among the individual stocks, Sandstorm Gold (6.16%), Ngex Minerals (5.67%), BCE Inc (3.18%), and Telus Corp (1.68%) were the prominent gainers.