Canadian Stocks Rise Amid Ontario Declaring State of Emergency

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian shares pared some of their earlier gains with global stocks, while the country’s most populous province, Ontario, declared a state of emergency amid the wake of coronavirus spread.

The S&P/TSX Composite rose as much as 2.3% at the open on Tuesday, after plunging 9.9% yesterday, to the lowest level since February, 2016. The index was up about 0.7% at 9:47am in Toronto. U.S. stocks also opened higher but pared their earlier losses as odds of recession climbed.

In a measure to curb the cirus spread, Province of Ontario declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as the number of coronavirus cases swelled. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said that his government will likely announce a fiscal package to help Canadians amid economic uncertainties.

Meanwhile, The loonie fell to a four-year low amid broad dollar gains as Canadian policy makers escalated their efforts to support the economy amid the coronavirus crisis. The top five Canadian banks also lowered their prime rates to 2.95 percent from 3.45 percent late Monday, on the back of Bank of Canada’s rate cut.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aoyon Ashraf in Toronto at aashraf7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Courtney Dentch at cdentch1@bloomberg.net, Steven Fromm

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