S&P/TSX composite rises more than 200 points Tuesday, U.S. stock markets move lower

A specialist works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Canada’s main stock index rose more than 200 points Tuesday, led by gains in technology and financial stocks, while U.S. stocks moved lower to erase gains from earlier in the day.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 201.40 points at 24,067.93.

• Real-time TSX market updates here

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 155.83 points at 40,368.96. The S&P 500 index was down 9.34 points at 5,396.63, while the Nasdaq composite was down 8.32 points at 16,823.17.

Markets appeared to take a breather Tuesday after a frenzied and unpredictable run, said Adelaide Chiu, portfolio manager, vice-president and head of responsible investing at NEI Investments.

“Every day has been quite volatile leading up into this,” she said.

Stocks have been swinging wildly on every piece of tariff news after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on a wide swath of countries earlier this month.

But the latest headline on tariffs didn’t provoke a strong reaction this time around, as automobile companies manufacturing vehicles in Canada got an exemption from Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs.

Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced that manufacturers can import a certain number of U.S.-assembled vehicles tariff free, though they must comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade. The number of vehicles they can import hinges on whether the company maintains Canadian production and investment.

Trump also said yesterday he’s considering some temporarily exemptions for the U.S. auto industry on tariffs, saying “they need a little bit of time” to relocate production.

That would “obviously would be very positive for the Canadian economy and the Canadian auto manufacturing industry,” said Chiu.

North of the border, stocks rose as investors digested the latest report on inflation.

The numbers came in softer than expected, slowing to 2.3 per cent in March, and economists appear divided on what it could mean for the next Bank of Canada interest rate decision, said Chiu.

“(There’s) a lot of uncertainty in the market,” she said, including concerns that the trade war could lead to a recession.

She noted that in the U.S., bank earnings have been coming in positive, reflecting a relatively healthy consumer in the first quarter. Both Bank of America and Citigroup saw their earnings beat expectations.

The Canadian dollar traded for 71.77 cents US compared with 72.04 cents US on Monday.

The June crude oil contract was down 30 cents at US$60.75 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up half a penny at US$3.33 per mmBTU.

The June gold contract was up US$14.10 at US$3,240.40 an ounce and the May copper contract was essentially unchanged at US$4.63 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2025.