TSX Opens Higher Ahead of Economic Data

Canada's main stock index opened higher on Monday, as investors assessed the impact of the U.S. President's proposed tariffs and braced for a wave of upcoming economic data.The TSX Composite Index gained 43.85 points, to open the week and month at 25,437.30. The Canadian dollar recovered 0.2 at 69.41 cents U.S. As the clock ticked towards the deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the tariffs on Canada and Mexico were slated to take effect on Tuesday.However, President Trump will decide whether to maintain the proposed 25% tariff rate, leaving investors anxious.The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI fell to 47.8 in February from 51.6 in the previous month, contrasting sharply with market expectations of 51.9 to mark the first decline in factory activity since August of last year. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange lost 3.02 points to start Monday at 611.62. All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were pointed upward, with gold shining 1.5% brighter, telecoms up 1.2%, and materials up 0.9%. The two laggards proved to be energy, down 0.9%, and information technology, retreating 0.7%. ON WALLSTREET The S&P 500 slid on Monday, extending February’s rout as a deadline on President Donald Trump’s tariff policies this week ratcheted up economic concerns.The Dow Jones Industrials gained 23.41 points, to 43,869.05The much-broader index fell 2.73 points to 5,951.77The NASDAQ Composite lost 40.47 points to 18,806.80. Monday marks the start of a new trading month after the three major indexes notched losses for February. The Dow and S&P 500 each slipped more than 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded its worst month since April 2024 with a drop of 4%.Soft economic data for the manufacturing and construction sectors released Monday offered the latest reasons for worry about the state of the U.S. economy. Those releases kick off a big week for economic data, with the February jobs report slated for Friday.The rocky start to the new trading month comes as Trump’s plans to impose import duties on key U.S. trading partners this week loom over the stock market. These policy proposals have rattled investors and stirred up market volatility recently as traders worry that they will reignite inflation.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday on Fox News that the exact tariff that will be levied against Mexico and Canada starting Tuesday is still “fluid,” which means it could be lower than the proposed 25%. He added that the additional 10% duty on China imports is “set.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CBS that Mexico has offered to match the U.S. tariffs on China, potentially as a way to get out of the tariffs set to be imposed against them on Tuesday.Elsewhere, cryptocurrencies rallied after Trump announced the creation of a strategic crypto reserve for the U.S. that will include bitcoin and ether. Bitcoin briefly jumped 10% to nearly $94,000 after dipping to a three-month low under $80,000 on Friday. Shares of crypto exchange stocks including Coinbase, Robinhood and MicroStrategy rose.Prices for the 10-year Treasury popped, lowering yields to 4.20%, compared to Friday’s 4.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.Oil prices slid 23 cents to $69.53 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold strengthened $49.00 an ounce to $2,864.90 U.S.