May 23 (Reuters) - Futures for Canada's main stock index
dipped on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump recommended
steep 50% tariffs on the European Union.
June futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 1.04%
at 8:03 a.m. ET (1203 GMT).
Trump is recommending tariffs on goods from the EU starting
on June 1, saying the EU has been hard to deal with on trade.
On Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of
Representatives passed a sweeping tax and spending bill, raising
concerns about worsening fiscal outlook in the world's biggest
economy. The bill now heads to the Senate for approval.
Also on Thursday, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said
he expected second-quarter growth to be "quite a bit weaker"
than the first quarter, and that it could be worse in subsequent
quarters if the uncertainty around U.S. tariffs continued.
The central bank last month forecast annualized
first-quarter GDP would be 1.8% but did not give any other
projections, citing uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy.
Statistics Canada will release the first-quarter GDP data on
May 30, a week before the central bank's next interest rate
decision.
In commodities, oil prices dropped for a fourth consecutive
session and were set for their first weekly decline in three
weeks.
Gold prices rose and were poised for their biggest weekly
gain in more than a month, while copper prices were expected to
see slim weekly gains.
Canada's main stock index edged higher on Thursday, as
technology shares clawed back some of the previous day's
declines and investors cheered TD Bank's quarterly results.
During the week, investors assessed hotter-than-expected
domestic core inflation data.
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