TSX edge higher; US tariff deadline approaches
The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), opens new tab hit a fresh record high and was last up 0.1% at 27055.24 points. The index was on track to log a weekly gain.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington will start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they will face on imports to the United States.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump are aiming to reach some form of trade deal by July 21.
"The threat of further global tariffs remains... but the most severely negative global trade scenarios still look less likely than they did a few months ago," economists at RBC Economics said in a note.
Data on Friday showed Greater Toronto Area home sales rose for a third straight month in June and prices extended their recent decline.
On the TSX, real estate (.GSPTTRE), opens new tab stocks led sectoral gains, rising 1.4%. Allied Properties (AP_u.TO), opens new tab up 2%, Dream Industrial REIT (DIR_u.TO), opens new tab advanced 1.6%, among the top gainers on the benchmark index.
Mining shares (.GSPTTMT), opens new tab edged 0.1% higher, energy (.SPTTEN), opens new tab shares were flat.
Copper prices retreated on Friday. Copper miners Capstone Copper (CS.TO), opens new tab down 1.3% and Ero Copper (ERO.TO), opens new tab down 1.1%, were among the bottom performers on the main index.
S&P's Canada services PMI data on Friday showed that Canada's services economy contracted at a higher rate in June with U.S. trade policy uncertainty leading to decreased activity and increased cost pressures,
Meanwhile, Trump's tax-cut legislation cleared its final hurdle in the U.S. Congress on Thursday, with plans to sign it into law later in the day.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
In July 4 ceremony, Trump signs tax and spending bill into law
WASHINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a massive package of tax and spending cuts at the White House on Friday, staging an outdoor ceremony on the Fourth of July holiday that took on the air of a Trump political rally. With military jets flying overhead and hundreds of supporters in attendance, Trump signed the bill one day after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the signature legislation of the president's second term. The bill, which will fund Trump's immigration crackdown, make his 2017 tax cuts permanent, and is expected to knock millions of Americans off health insurance, was passed with a 218-214 vote after an emotional debate on the House floor. "I've never seen people so happy in our country because of that, because so many different groups of people are being taken care of: the military, civilians of all types, jobs of all types," Trump said at the ceremony, thanking House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for leading the bill through the two houses of Congress. "So you have the biggest tax cut, the biggest spending cut, the largest border security investment in American history," Trump said. Trump scheduled the ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House for the July 4 Independence Day holiday, replete with a flyover by stealth bombers and fighter jets like those that took part in the recent U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. Hundreds of Trump supporters attended, including White House aides, members of Congress, and military families. After a speech that included boastful claims about the ascendance of America on his watch, Trump signed the bill, posed for pictures with Republican congressional leaders and members of his cabinet, and waded through the crowd of happy supporters. The bill's passage amounts to a big win for Trump and his Republican allies, who have argued it will boost economic growth, while largely dismissing a nonpartisan analysis predicting it will add more than $3 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion debt. While some lawmakers in Trump's party expressed concerns over the bill's price tag and its hit to healthcare programs, in the end just two of the House's 220 Republicans voted against it, joining all 212 Democrats in opposition. The tense standoff over the bill included a record-long floor speech by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who spoke for eight hours and 46 minutes, blasting the bill as a giveaway to the wealthy that would strip low-income Americans of federally-backed health insurance and food aid benefits. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin predicted the law would cost Republicans votes in congressional elections in 2026. "Today, Donald Trump sealed the fate of the Republican Party, cementing them as the party for billionaires and special interests - not working families," Martin said in a statement. "This legislation will hang around the necks of the GOP for years to come. This was a full betrayal of the American people. Today, we are putting Republicans on notice: you will lose your majority."
BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Trump signs tax and spending cut bill at White House July 4 picnic
US President Donald Trump signed his package of tax breaks and spending cuts into law after his cajoling produced almost unanimous Republican support in Congress for the domestic priority that could cement his second-term legacy. Flanked by Republican legislators and members of his cabinet, Mr Trump signed the multi-trillion dollar legislation outside the White House, and then banged down the gavel that house speaker Mike Johnson gifted him that was used during the bill's final passage on Thursday. Advertisement Against odds that at times seemed improbable, Mr Trump achieved his goal of celebrating a historic and divisive legislative victory in time for the nation's birthday. Fighter jets and a stealth bomber streaked through the sky over the annual White House Fourth of July picnic as Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump stepped out onto the White House balcony. 'America's winning, winning, winning like never before,' Mr Trump said, noting last month's bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear programme, which he said the flyover was meant to honour. 'Promises made, promises kept and we've kept them.' Advertisement The White House was hung with red, white and blue bunting for the regular Fourth of July festivities. The United States Marine Band played patriotic marches — and, in a typical Trumpian touch, tunes by 1980s pop icons Chaka Khan and Huey Lewis. The two separate flyovers bookended Mr Trump's appearance and the band playing the national anthem. Democrats assailed the package as a giveaway to the rich that will rob millions more lower-income people of their health insurance, food assistance and financial stability. Advertisement 'I never thought that I'd be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,' Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said during a record-breaking speech that delayed the bill's passage by eight-plus hours. 'It's a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people.' A B-2 bomber and two F-22 fighters conduct a flyover during a Fourth of July celebration at the White House (Evan Vucci/AP) The legislation extends Mr Trump's 2017 multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by 1.2 trillion dollars. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement. Congress' non-partisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law. Advertisement The legislation passed the House on a largely party-line vote on Thursday. It passed by a single vote in the Senate, where North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis announced he would not run for re-election after incurring Mr Trump's wrath in opposing it. Vice president JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote. The legislation amounts to a repudiation of the agendas of the past two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in rolling back Mr Obama's Medicaid expansion under his signature health law and Mr Biden's tax credits for renewable energy. Advertisement The Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add 3.3 trillion dollars to the deficit over the decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage. Mr Trump exulted in his political victory on Thursday night in Iowa, where he attended a kick-off of events celebrating the country's 250th birthday next year. 'I want to thank Republican congressmen and women, because what they did is incredible,' he said. The president complained that Democrats voted against the bill because 'they hate Trump — but I hate them, too'. The package is certain to be a flashpoint in next year's mid-term elections, and Democrats are making ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multi-day vigil, all intended to highlight the most controversial elements. Upon his return to Washington early Friday, Mr Trump described the package as 'very popular' though polling suggests that public opinion is mixed at best.
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Trump signs big tax cut and spending bill into law in July Fourth ceremony
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law his sweeping tax cut and spending package, what he's called the 'big, beautiful bill,' in a Fourth of July ceremony packaged with patriotic pomp and symbolism. The White House ceremony, which took place alongside a military picnic, included an armed forces flyover and was attended by jubilant Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both of Louisiana, who helped muscle the legislation through their chamber Thursday by a razor-thin margin. "Our country has had so much to celebrate this Independence Day as we enter our 249th year. America's winning, winning, winning like never before," Trump said before signing the bill. "We have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent. That's the largest tax cut in the history of our country," he continued. "We're setting all sorts of economic records right now, and that's before this kicks in. After this kicks in, our country is going to be a rocket ship, economically." The Senate on Tuesday passed the bill on a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance needed to break the tie. That sent the bill to the House, which passed it on a mostly party-line vote of 218-214 Thursday, just one day before Trump's arbitrary July Fourth deadline. As a band played the National Anthem, a B-2 Spirit bomber, accompanied by two F-35 jets, flew over the White House in honor of the U.S. strike on nuclear facilities in Iran last month. The pilots who participated in those strikes, Operation Midnight Hammer, were invited to the event by Trump. Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their guests were expected to watch the annual Independence Day fireworks celebration over the National Mall on Friday night. The president visited his Virginia club earlier in the day. The bill signing capped a grueling monthslong process, during which the House and the Senate publicly quarreled over whether the GOP should try to pass Trump's domestic policy priorities in one bill or break them up into two. Moderate and conservative Republicans also battled over how much they should cut federal safety net programs — Medicaid and food aid (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) — as well as how much to raise the deduction cap on state and local taxes, or SALT. The mammoth package fulfills many of Trump's 2024 campaign promises. It extends the expiring tax cuts he enacted in his first term, in 2017, while temporarily slashing taxes on tips and overtime pay and allowing deductions on auto loan interest payments. It also includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending on the military and on carrying out Trump's mass deportation plans. The legislation partly pays for that with steep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and clean energy funding. And despite conservative calls to tackle the ballooning debt and deficit, the Trump law is projected to increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO also estimated that 11.8 million people could lose health insurance coverage because of the legislation's Medicaid cuts and other provisions. A raft of recent polls shows Trump's big bill is deeply unpopular. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 53% of registered voters oppose the bill, while only 27% support it. And Democrats, eager to win back control of the House and possibly the Senate in 2026, are salivating at the chance to make the Trump bill a central campaign issue in the midterm elections. "Not a single thing in Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill will meaningfully make life more affordable for everyday Americans, and that's just one of several reasons why House Democrats are hell no on this legislation," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Thursday in a record-breaking, nearly nine-hour floor speech. "We were a hell no last week, a hell no this week, a hell no yesterday, a hell no today," he said to raucous cheers from Democrats. "And will continue to be a hell no on this effort to hurt the American people." Just a day after Congress passed the bill, Republicans have already started talking about making changes to the law. As he touted the tax cuts and spending cuts in the package, Vance on Friday opened the door to changing some of the policies in it. Trump 'makes a reform, he sees how it plays out, and he's always willing to have a conversation in order to make things even better,' the vice president, who played a key role in House and Senate negotiations this week, told reporters in North Dakota.
