Loonie at lowest in more than 20 years, S&P/TSX composite sinks nearly 600 points
North American stock markets plunged at the start of trading, while the Canadian dollar fell to its lowest level in more than two decades after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs to be enacted Tuesday.
Canada’s main stock index was down nearly 600 points after Trump announced over the weekend that the U.S. would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian goods and 10 per cent on energy.
Canada has promised to retaliate starting with tariffs on $30 billion in U.S. goods on Tuesday. Ottawa also plans to add another $125 billion in tariffs in 21 days on hundreds of other U.S. goods after consulting with industry.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 587.62 points at 24,945.48 shortly after the start of trading.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 476.45 points at 44,068.21. The S&P 500 index was down 89.97 points at 5,950.56, while the Nasdaq composite was down 365.07 points at 19,262.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 68.20 cents U.S. compared with 69.04 cents U.S. on Friday.
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