Customs tariffs of 25%: Hurricane Trump blows across Canada | Live coverage

TSX closes lower and US stock markets make gains

Canada’s main stock index closed slightly lower Tuesday, while U.S. stock markets advanced.

Investors have digested the latest news from US President-elect Donald Trump, who threatened to impose new tariffs of 25% on products from Canada and Mexico.

This price promise considerable probably shocked the markets somewhat at first, said Mike Archibald, vice-president and portfolio manager at AGF Investments.

But I think as people digested this news, they felt that this was probably a starting position from a negotiating point of viewhe stressed.

The announcement is consistent with tactics used by Donald Trump during his first term, Archibald said.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 5.21 points to 25,405.14.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 123.74 points to 44,860.31. The S&P 500 index rose 34.26 points to 6,021.63, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 119.46 points to 19,174.30.

Some Canadian companies have seen their stock prices fall due to the outsized impact such a tariff could have on certain sectors, Mr. Archibald noted.

These companies include Bombardier, BRP, Linamar and Magna International.

You can see that the biggest losers in the market today are generally those manufacturing in Canada and/or Mexicohe stressed.

The loonie fell to its lowest level in four years before recovering some of its losses later in the day, Archibald said.

At the end of the day, the Canadian dollar was trading at 71.01 US cents, compared to 71.53 US cents on Monday.

The Canadian Press