04:14 PM EST, 02/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canada's main exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, closed down 91.6 points at 25,442.91 on Friday as growing fears around a potential global tariffs war, and concern about a deteriorating economic relationship between Canada and United States, weighed on market sentiment, even if some still see glitter in gold.

In a latest update on his tariff plans, U.S. President Trump today said he was thinking about imposing 'reciprocal' tariffs, as opposed to what he termed 'flat fee' tariffs, on nations the U.S. trades with. While Trump didn't provide any details, he hinted that he might make an announcement on it next week. The comments further raised fears here about what impact such a move will have on Canada, which counts the U.S. as its largest trading partner.

This comes after the two countries only last Monday agreed to delay the introduction of tariffs on each other for 30 days.

Meanwhile, Canada's outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told executives gathered at an economic summit on Friday that he believes President Trump genuinely wants to annex Canada due to its abundance of critical minerals, a senior government official said, according to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg noted Trudeau made the remarks to dozens of business leaders and policymakers gathered in Toronto to discuss how Canada can diversify trade away from the US given Trump's tariff threats. The comments were confirmed by an official who asked not to be identified discussing the closed-door meeting.

Among sectors, most were lower, led by Telecoms (-1.95%) and Health Care (-1.7%). Both Energy (+0.5%) and Base Metals (+0.85%) were higher, reflecting higher commodity prices today.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rebounded from three days of losses as the Trump Administration tightened sanctions on exports from Iran. WTI crude oil for March delivery closed up $0.39 to settle at US$71.00 per barrel, while April Brent crude was last seen climbed $0.55 to US$74.84.

Gold also rose, supported by safe-haven buying even as the dollar rose after the U.S. added fewer new jobs than expected in January. Gold for April delivery was last seen up $12.30 to US$2,889.00 per ounce. The price of the metal rose to a record high of US$2,893.00 on Wednesday.

Staying on gold, Bhawana Chhabra over at Rosenberg Research -- in an article seemingly written in homage to Neil Young, a Canadian singer-songwriter, with a title of 'I've Been a Miner for a Heart of Gold' -- said gold miners remain "undervalued and underappreciated even in the face of their recent rally". In citing a reason, she added that price increases in the stocks still lag sharp earnings upgrades underpinned by expanding margins and strong gold prices.

In an executive summary, Chhabra said: "Gold miners remain a significantly underappreciated equity opportunity as price returns have barely kept up with earnings upgrades, despite the run-up in the past year. Underpinned by strong fundamentals and comfortable valuations, this group offers a strong risk-reward profile. Our research strongly suggests that there is a +70% upside return potential to the North American sector as the undervaluation gap closes."