Canadian Stocks Recover From Early Sell-Off But Still Close Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the sell-off seen over the two previous sessions, Canadian stocks showed another significant move to the downside during trading on Monday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered from an early plunge and briefly turned positive but ended the day down 334.01 points or 1.4 percent at 22,859.46.

The continued weakness on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory moves by U.S. trade partners.

Adding to worries about a global trade war, Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods.

Trump also threatened to terminate negotiations with China even as he said his administration is in talks with "countries from all over the world" and "tough but fair parameters are being set."

Stocks briefly recovered and moved notably higher after a headline indicated Trump is considering pausing new tariffs for 90 days, but the White House subsequently dismissed the report.

Consumer staples stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, with the S&P.TSX Capped Consumer Staples Index plunging by 2.8 percent.

An extended slump by the price of crude oil also weighed on energy stocks dragging the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index down by 2.0 percent.

Telecom, healthcare and commercial real estate stocks also saw considerable weakness, while tech stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend.