Investing.com -- Canada’s main stock index was down Friday at market close on trade uncertainty.
By the 4:00 ET close, the bellwether S&P/TSX 60 index was down 1 point or 0.05%, having gained 0.1% in yesterday’s session.
However, Toronto’s S&P/TSX Composite rose by 25.9 or 0.1% following the previous session, in which the index posted gains of 14.8 points or 0.1%.
Underpinning sentiment was uncertain following a new slew of tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a Truth Social post, Trump furthered pressured tech giant Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying that all Apple products not manufactured in the U.S. would be under a 25% tariff.
Apple had previously announced movement of some manufacturing to India in order to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs on China. Apple stock dropped down 3% on the day.
Trump threatened tariffs of 50% on the EU if trade talks continue to stall. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said in a Fox News Interview that Trump has not seen the EU’s offers on trade as being of "good quality."
In Canadian earnings, mining company Silvercorp Metals Inc (TSX:SVM) offered solid results, with in-line EPS and a revenue beat, dropping 5.7% at close.
March retail sales
Canada’s retail sales report for the month of March came in, as Statistics Canada reported a rise of 0.8%, beating economists’ expectations of a 0.7% gain. The bounce back was led by the auto sector, with parts and vehicles recording their strongest increase in three months.
CIBC Andrew Grantham responded in saying, "Overall, consumer spending growth does appear to have slowed relative to the second half of last year, but not worryingly so as yet."
U.S. stocks drop
Trading in U.S. stock indexes was down on Friday, as investors gauged the recent trade developments.
As of the 4:00 ET, the S&P 500 fell 39.2 points or 0.7%, the NASDAQ Composite decreased 188.5 points or 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 256 points or 0.6%.
In yesterdays trading, the S&P lost 0.04%, the Nasdaq gained 0.3%, and the Dow was flat.
Crude Oil prices gain slightly
Oil prices retreated Friday, before a slight rebound, experiencing their first weekly decline in three weeks, weighed down by renewed supply pressure with OPEC+ considering another increase in production levels.
By 5:10 ET, Crude Oil WTI Futures were up 0.9%, pricing in at $61.76 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures rose by 0.9% to $65.01 per barrel.
For the week, both benchmarks have fallen over 2%, falling to their lowest in more than one week, following two weeks of gains.
Gold Futures gain
Gold traded higher on Friday, as investors turned to the safe haven on renewed tariff uncertainty.
At 5:10 ET, XAU/USD was up 1.9% to $3,357.94/oz, while Gold Futures traded up 1.9%, pricing in at $3,357.20/oz.
(Peter Nurse also contributed to this article)