Jan 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main index fell on Wednesday, with investors taking stock of a report that said U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was considering declaring a national economic emergency to allow for new tariffs.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.26%, or 64.5 points, at 24,865.39 and was set for its third straight session of declines.
CNN on Wednesday reported that Trump's move will allow him to build a new tariff program by using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.
Investors have been concerned whether Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20, would go through with his rhetoric of imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada, which exports 75% of all goods and services to the U.S.
"There is quite a bit of caution in the markets with all the policy uncertainty that we're facing," said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
"The incoming President Trump is quite serious about imposing tariffs on Canada in a meaningful fashion and that's clearly a negative for the Canadian economy and could weigh pretty heavily on the TSX."
Canadian 10-year benchmark yield rose following the report, mirroring its U.S. counterpart.
This weighed on rate-sensitive real estate and bond proxy utilities sectors, which lost 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
The domestic market also took cues from Wall Street where the benchmark S&P 500 was down 0.3%.
The U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to a 11-month low last week, pointing to a stable labor market, while a separate report showed private payrolls growth slowed sharply in December.
All eyes are now on Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, while minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting is due at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Back home, the capped communications sector was among the top decliners on TSX, down 1%.
Cannabis firm Tilray Brands declined 5.6%, weighing on the healthcare sector, which slipped 1.8%.
Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed
Source: Reuters