TSX opens lower amid more Trump trade turmoil

Investing.com -- Canada’s main stock index was down Friday on trade uncertainty following market open.

By 9:40 ET, the bellwether S&P/TSX 60 index was down 3.5 points or 0.2%, having gained 0.1% in yesterday’s session.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX Composite dropped 58.1 points or 0.2% following the previous session, in which the index posted gains of 14.8 points or 0.1%.

Underpinning sentiment was uncertain following a new slew of tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a Truth Social post, Trump furthered pressured tech giant Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying that all Apple products not manufactured in the U.S. would be under a 25% tariff.

Apple had previously announced movement of some manufacturing to India in order to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs on China. Apple stock dropped over 4% premarket, but has since pared losses, now sitting down 0.4%, as of 9:45 ET.

Trump threatened tariffs of 50% on the EU if trade talks continue to stall. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said in a Fox News Interview that Trump has not seen the EU’s offers on trade as being of "good quality."

In Canadian earnings, mining company Silvercorp Metals (NYSE:SVM) Inc (TSX:SVM) offered solid results, with in-line EPS and a revenue beat, dropping 5.7% at open.

March retail sales

Canada’s retail sales report for the month of March came in, as Statistics Canada reported a rise of 0.8%, beating economists’ expectations of a 0.7% gain. The bounce back was led by the auto sector, with parts and vehicles recording their strongest increase in three months. 

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CIBC Andrew Grantham responded in saying, "Overall, consumer spending growth does appear to have slowed relative to the second half of last year, but not worryingly so as yet."

U.S. stocks drop

Trading in U.S. stock indexes was down on Friday, as investors gauged the recent trade developments.

As of 9:55 ET, the S&P 500 fell 64.8 points or 1.1%, the NASDAQ Composite decreased 266.5 points or 1.4, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 358 points or 0.9%.

In yesterdays trading, the S&P lost 0.04%, the Nasdaq gained 0.3%, and the Dow was flat. 

Crude Oil prices fall slightly

Oil prices retreated Friday, on course for their first weekly decline in three weeks, weighed down by renewed supply pressure with OPEC+ considering another increase in production levels.

By 10:00 ET, Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 0.1%, pricing in at $61.15 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures dropped 0.1% to $64.38 per barrel.

For the week, both benchmarks have fallen over 2%, falling to their lowest in more than one week, following two weeks of gains.

Gold Futures gain

Gold traded higher on Friday, as investors turned to the safe haven on renewed tariff uncertainty.

At 10:00 ET, XAU/USD was up 1.4% to $3,341.47/oz, while Gold Futures traded up 1.4%, pricing in at $3,341.44/oz.

(Peter Nurse also contributed to this article)

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