Market week: Trade tensions sink markets again

U.S. imposes fresh tariffs

Stocks fell across the board on the week, as trade tensions between the U.S. and China continued to simmer in the absence of a trade deal along with an increase in tariffs. U.S. inflationary pressures waned in April, with some Fed officials indicating the core 2.1% annual rate was too low. The S&P 500 Composite Index slid 2.2% on the week as a result, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3%. In Canada, a surprise gain of over 106,000 jobs in April, most of them full time, helped boost market sentiment on Friday, limiting the weekly loss on the S&P/TSX Composite Index to 1.2%.

Index	May 10, 2019, close	Day	Week	Year to date
S&P/TSX Composite	16,297.55	-0.2%	-1.19%	13.79%
S&P 500 Composite	2,881.40	0.4%	-2.18%	14.94%
Nasdaq Composite	7,916.94	0.1%	-3.03%	19.32%
Gold (US$)	$1,286.90	0.1%	0.57%	0.56%
Oil (WTI) (US$)	$61.71	0.0%	-0.21%	35.90%

Effective Friday morning the U.S. government imposed 20% import duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods coming into the U.S. Also keeping markets unsettled and leading to losses on the week for the major indices, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose a new 25% tariff on another $325 billion of Chinese imports. U.S. consumer prices remained almost flat in April, with the all items consumer price index at an annual 2.1%, indicating weaker price pressures and suggesting a longer hiatus until the next rate hike by the Federal Reserve Board.

FUND NEWS

* BMO launches two new funds, makes a name change. BMO Investments Inc. today announced two new funds:

BMO Concentrated U.S. Equity Fund holds a portfolio of U.S. high quality equity securities, investing with high concentration to deliver long-term capital appreciation.

BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF Fund invests in a diversified portfolio of Canadian equities that have lower sensitivity to market movement with the potential for long-term capital appreciation.

Effective immediately, BMO Fossil Fuel Free Fund has changed its name to BMO Sustainable Opportunities Global Equity Fund.

* TD debuts new ETFs. TD Asset Management Inc. announced on Thursday the launch of three new exchange-traded funds:

TD Active Global Enhanced Dividend ETF (TSX: TGED), invests in dividend-paying stocks anywhere in the world. The ETF may use options strategies to help reduce risk and earn additional income.

TD Systematic International Equity Low Volatility ETF (TSX: TILV) uses a quantitative ETF strategy to invest in stocks in developed markets outside Canada and the United States, while seeking to reduce volatility.

TD Global Technology Leaders Index ETF (TSX: TEC) is a technology focused fund tracks the Solactive Global Technology Leaders Index of successful technology companies as well as emerging technology companies.

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Disclaimer

The foregoing is for general information purposes only and is the opinion of the writer. No guarantee of investment performance is made or implied. It is not intended to provide specific personalized advice including, without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice.