12:11 PM EDT, 03/13/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is down 136 points at midday, with info tech (-2.3%), posting the biggest losses. Miners, up 1.4%, is the sole gainer.

Commodity prices were mixed. Oil edged lower even as the International Energy Agency said it expects higher global demand this year to be accompanied by rising inventories, while cautioning its outlook is clouded by U.S. trade wars. Gold traded higher even as the dollar rose after another report showed U.S. inflation cooled last month.

The omens aren't great around cooler heads prevailing at today's meeting between Canadian officials and their U.S. counterparts in Washington, amid a brewing trade dispute between the two countries. Earlier this morning, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Bloomberg TV praised the U.K. and Mexico for refraining from engaging in tit-for-tat tariff hikes with the U.S., warning that those trading partners that upset U.S. President Donald Trump with their responses to American protectionist steps open themselves to a severe reaction.

Lutnick also said that Canada's retaliatory measures against US tariff hikes were done out of domestic political considerations, as the American neighbor heads toward elections. "You think it's about a trade war -- this is their way of getting election votes," Lutnick said.

Canada's Federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are meeting with Lutnick later this afternoon, and expect to talk tariffs and trade. The meeting was arranged in a phone call from Lutnick to Ford after Ontario announced, and then paused, a 25% electricity surcharge in three U.S. states. Ottawa has detailed counter tariffs on near $30 billion of U.S. goods, after the U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel, including Canadian.

In specific stock news, Canadian grocer Empire (EMP-A.TO) on Thursday said its third-quarter adjusted profit fell slightly while revenue rose and beat expectations. Empire noted that 12% of its annual sales is related to goods sourced from the U.S., and said it is working to reduce that amount because of the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings -- in noting the U.S. administration imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian goods imported to the U.S. and a 10% tariff on energy and critical minerals, before providing a temporary reprieve until April 2 -- said in a note published Wednesday the ultimate impact on Canadian domestic systemically important banks' operating results and capital levels will depend on the duration of these tariffs, as well as any potential offsets through Canadian government intervention and/or regulator intervention.

In a commentary entitled, "Tariff Uncertainty Could Strain Large Canadian Banks' Profitability," S&P Global Ratings stated that the Canadian D-SIBs' strong balance sheets, diverse loan books, and varied revenue sources should help offset the impact of tariffs, although a prolonged duration would generate headwinds for banks' credit quality and profitability.

So far in 2025, the threat of tariffs has already weighed on domestic business sentiment amid economic uncertainty. "In a longer duration tariff scenario, we expect that banks' profits could be reduced through lower net interest income from shrinking loan growth, lower fee revenues, and higher provisions for credit losses," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Daniel Da Silva. However, in S&P's revised base case, the stress "should be manageable", it added.