(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rallied back from losses earlier in the session Tuesday to finish basically where they started as traders assessed US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs on goods produced in Canada and Mexico.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed essentially flat after sliding as much as 0.5% in the first hour of trading. Quebec-based private jet-maker Bombardier Inc. was the worst performer in the gauge, tumbling 9.3% for its biggest decline since February.
“Tariffs dump sand in the gears of the global economy, and markets hate them,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management in Toronto, who also noted that domestic manufacturing stocks are likely to be hit hardest.
Auto parts manufacturer Magna International Inc. and Ski-Doo maker BRP Inc. fell. TD Cowen analysts previously singled out automakers as particularly vulnerable to tariffs, prompting the team to downgrade Linamar Corp. and cut the price target on Martinrea International Inc. Canada’s railway operators, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co., slumped as well.
“Equity investors will have to roll up their sleeves and go granular on the implications on a company-by-company basis,” said Derek Holt, Scotiabank vice president and head of capital markets economics. He added that he expects energy and autos would be “prime candidates” for carve outs so as not to directly pass costs onto US consumers.
The Canadian dollar briefly dropped to 70.53 US cents on Monday night before recovering somewhat. The Bank of Canada should take the threat of tariffs from the US seriously, according to Sadiq Adatia, chief investment officer at BMO Global Asset Management.
“The worry is that the Canadian dollar then potentially goes below 70 cents,” he said in a broadcast interview with BNN Bloomberg. “The number is quite alarming to Canadians when you see it below 70, I think it’s an important milestone for them.”
The S&P/TSX Composite Index has repeatedly hit new highs this year, but it has still underperformed the S&P 500 Index.
“I think the perception of Canada, outside of Canada is, is not that positive,” Jim Thorne, chief market strategist at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc. said by phone, adding that he would expect Toronto-listed stocks to struggle relative to the US.
The tariff announcement “sparked significant concern” around the economic fallout, Thorne said. “No one should be surprised.”
(Updates with market close. A previous version of this story was corrected to reflect the exchange rate US currency.)
