12:13 PM EDT, 03/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 162 points at midday with most sectors higher.

The biggest gainers are energy (+1.7%) and miners (+1.1%).

Oil prices moved higher early on Monday after the United States launched attacks on Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants, a response to the group's attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping, while China said it plans moves to boost consumer spending.

But gold prices eased early on Monday even as the dollar dipped, falling from a record high after the metal on Friday closed above US$3,000 for the first time. Natural gas futures edged lower as forecasts see mild spring weather cutting into demand.

Canadian investors may be buoyed by news that new PM Mark Carney has moved to build on trading ties with "two of our strongest and most reliable partners" as he headed for France and the United Kingdom. The move is designed to ensure that Canada is less reliant on the U.S. amid a brewing trade war between the two North America nations.

Last week, BMO Economics noted, the Trump Administration set 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, adding to the growing list of levies that includes 25% on non-USMCA-compliant goods from Mexico, 25% or 10% on non-USMCA-compliant goods from Canada, and an additional 20% on goods from China

BMO noted it was "another whirlwind week" for Canada that included tariffs on steel and aluminum shipments to the U.S. (and another near-$30 billion in counter-tariffs on U.S. imports into Canada), and a 25 bp rate cut by the Bank of Canada.

But, BMO added, while tariffs weighed on equities through most of last week (before clawing back some of those losses on Friday), the TSX again outperformed other North American indices, down just 0.8%.

Looking ahead, BMO noted CPI is out tomorrow and is expected to show an acceleration in inflation as the GST, HST holiday ended partway through February. BMO's Benjamin Reitzes expects headline inflation to jump to 2.2% y/y (from 1.9% in January), with the Trim and Median remaining in the high-2% range. It noted we'll also get producer prices for February on Thursday.

In terms of today's data, TD Economics noted Canadian housing starts came in at 229.0k annualized units in February, marking a 4% month-on-month (m/m) decline from January's level. However, the six-month moving average of starts increased by 1% m/m, reflecting revisions to prior months.

TD noted housing starts surprised market consensus to the downside in February and have dropped 5% compared to their fourth quarter average so far in Q1. This raises the risk that homebuilding will downwardly pressure residential investment and GDP growth in the first quarter.

Canadian existing home sales "plunged" 9.8% month-on-month in February, the largest monthly decline since May 2022 -- near the beginning of the BoC's "aggressive" interest rate hiking campaign, notes TD. February's plunge has taken sales down to the lowest level since November 2023, with the twin hits of reduced confidence due to U.S. tariff threats and a big winter storm in Central Canada.

The BoC has since cut interest rates further to help cushion demand in the face of this threat, which should provide some support for housing at the margins. But as long as the U.S. keeps the threat of punitive tariffs alive, confidence in the housing market is "likely to be under a cloud," TD said.