TSX Ends 1.7% Down As Stocks Tumble On Tariff Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Tuesday, hurt by heavy selling in several sectors amid concerns about growth as new tariffs by U.S. against Canada, China and Mexico took effect, and Canada and China announced retaliatory measures.

Financials, technology, energy, industrials and consumer discretionary stocks declined sharply.

After the Trump administration's tariff moves, Canada retaliated by announcing 25% tariffs on $107 billion worth of U.S. goods, with $20.7 billion in immediate effect. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country is preparing countermeasures.

China has announced 15% tariffs on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, plus 10% cent tariffs on soybeans, pork, beef and dairy beginning March 10.

U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that he will impose reciprocal duties with effect from April 2, and the first target will be a levy on agricultural products.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which tumbled to 24,344.84 around late morning, losing more than 650 points in the process, ended the session with a loss of 429.57 points or 1.72% at 24,572.00.

The Financials Capped Index dropped 2.77%. IA Financial Corp, Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Corporation, Manulife Financial Corporation and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce closed down 4.1 to 6%.

Royal Bank of Canada, goeasy, EQB Inc., Onex Corp, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 1.7 to 4%.

Technology stocks Sangoma Technologies and Coveo Solutions tumbled 7.9% and 7.4%, respectivley. Docebo ended 6.35% down, and Lightspeed Commerce closed lower by 5.2%. Shopify Inc., Kinaxis Inc., Celestica and Sylogist lost 2.3 to 4.7%.

Energy stocks Athabasca Oil Corp., Terravest Industries, Enerflex, Cenovus Energy, Ces Energy Solutions, Parex Resources, International Petroleum Corp. and Suncor Energy lost 2 to 5%.

In the industrials sector, Tfi International closed down 5.3%. WSP Global ended 4.15% down. Atkins Realis, Ats Corp., Stantec, Richelieu Hardware, Gfl Environmental, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Toromont Industries ended lower by 2 to 3.1%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Aritzia, Linamar Corp and Gildan Activewear lost 6.1%, 4.5% and 4%, respectively. Magna International, Spin Master Corp and Brp Inc. also ended sharply lower.