12:13 PM EST, 02/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is down 130 points at midday, with most sectors lower.

Info tech, down 2.6%, is the biggest decliner.

Healthcare is the biggest gainer, up 3%. Aptose Biosciences ( APTO ) , which is 31% higher at midday, reported a positive update for its Tuscany Phase 1/2 trial this morning.

Miners, up 1.6%, is then second biggest gainer.

Oil prices edged higher early on Thursday despite a report showing another big rise in U.S. inventories last week. Gold traded at a fresh record high as the dollar moved lower and safe-haven demand remains high amid U.S. tariff threats.

Natural gas prices early on Thursday moved down from the highest in more than two years ahead of fresh storage data as long-term forecasts see an end coming for the Arctic temperatures hitting northern states.

Tariff concerns continue to weigh on investors' minds

But according to veteran market watcher David Rosenberg, one way for Canada to retaliate is not to retaliate. but to embark on a "huge" fiscal stimulus.

Rosenberg said: "Beyond just hitting back at the U.S. with either tariff retaliation, or even better, export taxes, what the Canadian government can also do is embark on a massive fiscal stimulus program (hopefully addressing Canada's tax competitiveness disadvantage at the same time)." Rosenberg noted that while many in Canada grapple with "irresponsible" fiscal policy, the reality is that the annual federal budget deficit north of the border is 2% relative to GDP. That comparable in the U.S. is over 6%, and for the first time since WWII (1942-46), it has topped 5% for five consecutive years. That has only happened during WWII (1942-46) -- not even in the harsh recession of the early 1980s and the Great Depression in the 1930s have we ever seen fiscal largess in the United States quite like this. But, Rosenberg asked, it does put the term "American Exceptionalism" in a certain light, doesn't it?

Rosenberg noted the debt-to-GDP ratio in Canada is a fraction of where it is in the U.S. at 42%, and even including the provinces, that ratio stands below 90% versus almost 130% stateside. "Canada has the fiscal flexibility -- and no matter who wins the next election, they should probably use it," Rosenberg added.