Weighted by the financials and industrials sectors, the TSX retreated from morning gains to edge 16 points lower to start the week.
Losses in seven of the index’s 11 major sectors tempered jumps in the prices of oil and gold, and a 2.4 percent rise in energy.
Industrials slipped a quarter of a percent, pulled down by a 1.95 percent drop in the share price of manufacturing giant Bombardier.
Oil rose $1.50 to $72.28 US a barrel as major oil producers declined to boost global output.
Meanwhile, investors can no longer shrug off fears of strained trade relations between the world’s two largest economies, with tariffs now in place.
Effective today, the U.S. is imposing a 10 percent tax on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, while China hit back with duties on $60 billion of American imports.
This caused jitters in markets around the world including Wall Street, which saw a significant sell-off of stocks.
The blame for the Dow ‘s 181 point tumble was threefold: profit-taking after last week’s gains, the escalation of the U.S./China trade war, and political instability stemming from the uncertain future of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Also in the U.S., the Nasdaq managed to stay above level, moving up five points thanks in large part to a 1.4 percent rise in Apple’s stock.
Gold was $1.50 higher to $1,198 an ounce while the loonie lost 19/100ths of a cent, dropping to $0.7723 US.
