Loonie down slightly as Donald Trump threatens more tariffs on Canada

Major stock indices in North America made gains despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on Canadian auto makers.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 60.60 points to 16,263.29.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.78 points to 25,322.31. The S&P 500 index climbed 2.97 points to 2,782.00 and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 14.42 points to 7,659.93.

“It’s a whole bunch of hot air positioning, pseudo negotiating. But it’s not reality,” said Norman Levine, managing Director of Portfolio Management Corp. in Toronto, of Trump’s “anti-Canadian, ridiculous tweeting” following the G7 meeting.

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In tweets, Trump insulted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “dishonest” and “weak.” He also threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports from Canada.

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Levine said the market’s gains today show it isn’t taking Trump’s attacks too seriously, even though historically, protectionism and trade wars have been very bad for stock markets.

“If everybody believed that it was real, then things would be getting hurt. But they’re not,” he said.

Initially, some fear emerged and the loonie moved lower, but it pared much of its losses later in the day.

The Canadian dollar averaged 76.90 cents US, down 0.06 of a US cent.

The July crude contract gained 36 cents to US$66.10 per barrel and the July natural gas contract advanced about six cents to roughly US$2.95 per mmBTU.

The August gold contract rose 50 cents to US$1,303.20 an ounce and the July copper contract shed about four cents to roughly