Tech stocks weigh on Canada, U.S. equity markets amid new tariff developments

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange is shown in this image, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. lost ground on Monday as fresh trade tensions came into focus.  

The S&P 500 fell one per cent after Trump said on Saturday that he would place temporary 15 per cent tariffs on other countries. That’s up from the 10 per cent rate he announced Friday following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down his sweeping “reciprocal” taxes on imports from around the world.

Jillian Bryan, senior investment adviser and senior portfolio manager at TD Wealth, said it is “too early” to assess exactly how the tariff situation will play out. 

“I think there’s going to be a lot of push and pull,” she said. 

Trump’s quick move toward more aggressive tariffs shows how much uncertainty still hangs over the global economy, even after the U.S. Supreme Court said the president lacked the legal authority to institute his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs. 

Beyond a 15 per cent tariff that could last for up to 150 days, unless U.S. Congress extends it further, Trump is moving forward on other avenues to place more permanent tariffs on countries and industries. That has trading partners uneasy.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 821.91 points at 48,804.06. The S&P 500 index was down 71.76 points at 6,837.75, while the Nasdaq composite was down 258.79 points at 22,627.27.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 41.01 points at 33,776.50.

A number of big tech stocks were in the red on Monday, including Microsoft down 3.21 per cent, Amazon down 2.3 per cent and Tesla down 2.91 per cent. 

“I think this is on the theme of last week, which is this AI disruption theme (that) is both front and centre, with obviously software at ground zero. Basically, the theme is AI is going to eat software,” Bryan said. 

Bryan said the weakness in Canada’s tech sector appeared to be a sympathetic trade with the U.S. market.  

Separately, Canadian banks are set to report first-quarter results this week that analysts expect will show an earnings boost from trading as well as muted loan growth amid a still-tepid housing market.

“They’re set to apparently post higher profits as elevated trading activity has been boosted obviously during volatile equity markets. And that’s apparently supposed to curb the impact of softening loan demand from consumers and businesses,” Bryan said. 

The Canadian dollar was flat compared with Friday, trading at 73.05 on Monday. 

The April crude oil contract was down 17 cents US at US$66.31 per barrel. The April gold contract was up US$144.70 at US$5,225.60 an ounce.  

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press. With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2026.