Global markets slid as traders cautiously assessed U.S President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats on auto, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports.
 
 

Wall Street’s main indexes opened marginally lower ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18 per cent to 44,478.12, the S&P 500 declined 0.19 per cent to 6,117.76, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.23 per cent to 19,994.502 at the bell.
 
 

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index followed sentiment lower, opening down 0.5 per cent at 25,516.38.
 
 

In Canada, investors are getting results from Manulife Financial Corp., Nutrien Ltd., Gildan Activewear Inc., Alamos Gold Inc., B2Gold Corp., CCL Industries Inc., Crombie REIT, Hudbay Minerals Inc. and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
 
 

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Analog Devices Inc. and Bausch + Lomb Corp.
 
 

“The global economy and global financial markets are not all about tariffs. They’re also mainly about activity, corporate profitability and interest rates, and it’s true that tariffs might impact those three elements, but it’s mainly in a contained way, based on what we’ve seen so far,” Lombard Odier economist Samy Chaar said.
 
 

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.7 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.63 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 1.07 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.84 per cent.
 
 
 

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.27 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.14 per cent.
 
 
 
 

Oil prices edged higher, buoyed by concern over oil supply disruptions in Russia and the U.S. while the market awaits clarity on sanctions as the U.S. attempts to broker a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
 
 

Brent crude futures were up 0.8 per cent at $76.48 a barrel, and possibly set for a third day of gains. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 1 per cent to US$72.53.
 
 

“The market is trying to make up its mind on three bullish drivers: Russia, Iran and OPEC,” said BNP Paribas commodities strategist Aldo Spanjer. “People are trying to figure out the impact of announced and actual sanctions.”
 
 

In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at US$2,943.25 an ounce. U.S. gold futures added 0.4 per cent to trade at US$2,961.
 
 
 
 

The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
 
 

The day range on the loonie was 70.31 US cents to 70.54 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.22 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
 
 

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.07 per cent to 107.13.
 
 

The euro slid 0.14 per cent to US$1.0431. The British pound declined 0.18 per cent to US$1.2591.
 
 

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.571 per cent.
 
 
 
 

GameStop Corp. says it intends to pursue a sale of its Canadian and French operations. The video game retailers says the move is part of an evaluation of its international assets, but did not provide further detail.
 
 

Gildan Activewear has reported fourth-quarter profit of US$132.3-million and boosted its dividend 10 per cent.
 
 
 
 

Japan trade deficit and core machine orders
 
 

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s household and mortgage credit for December.
 
 

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. housing starts for January. Consensus is an annualized rate rise of 7.0 per cent.
 
 

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. building permits for January. Consensus is a decline of 2.3 per cent on an annualized rate basis.
 
 

(2 p.m. ET) Fed minutes from Jan. 28-29 meeting are released.
 
 

With Reuters and The Canadian Press