Canadian Stocks Move Modestly Lower As Trudeau Announces Resignation

(RTTNews) - After moving modestly higher early in the session, Canadian stocks moved to the downside over the course of the trading day on Monday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index pulled back off its early highs and into negative territory, closing down 73.75 points or 0.3 percent at 24,999.79.

The early strength on the day partly reflected a positive reaction to a Washington Post report suggesting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may scale back his tariff plans.

While Trump previously called for "universal" tariffs of as high as 10 or 20 percent on everything imported into the U.S., the Washington Post said his aides are now exploring plans that would apply tariffs to every country but only cover "critical imports."

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as Trump later dismissed the report as "fake news."

The downturn on Bay Street also came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.

Trudeau said he intends to step down as Prime Minister and leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party after the party selects its new leader.

Gold stocks moved sharply lower amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 2.2 percent slump by the S&P/TSX Global Back Index.

Consumer staples stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Staples Index down by 1.6 percent.

Considerable weakness also emerged among healthcare stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent loss posted by the S&P/TSX Capped Health Care Index.