12:17 PM EDT, 03/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 65 points with miners, up 1.6%, and healthcare, up 0.8%, the biggest gainer. Energy, up 0.7%, is the third biggest gainer.

Oil prices rose for a fifth-straight session early on Tuesday on supply concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from countries that import oil from Venezuela. Gold traded at a fresh record high as the dollar fell and safe-haven buying continues amid continuing tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Also, natural gas futures rose, continuing to trade in a tight range amid weak demand as mild spring temperatures cut the call on supply.

On tariffs, National Bank in its Monthly Economic Monitor for March/April 2025 published late Monday said Canada is "more than ever caught between a rock and a hard place, tensions running high with its main trading partner, whose protectionist bent is now undeniable". But National still hold out some hope the U.S. administration will recognize Canada as a trading partner of choice and grant it preferential status.

"This current uncertainty is unfortunate," National said in a summary of the note, "as the conditions seemed ripe for a soft landing for the economy, with the central bank having been able to cut its policy rate by 225 basis points since June 2024. Indeed, the economic recovery has recently exceeded economists' expectations, with the Citi Economic Surprise Index reaching its highest level in almost three years."

But National added the upturn is likely to be short-lived, if consumer confidence level is anything to go by, which was at a record low in February.

National Bank maintains GDP growth of just 1.2% in 2025. It said "a better starting point than previously estimated is offset by a significant weakening of the economy in the second and third quarters." As a result, the unemployment rate is expected to rise in the 7.0% to 7.5% range over the next few months (6.6% in February), it added.

Meanwhile, escalating U.S. tariffs and Canadian retaliatory duties could raise costs on items from aircraft components to engine repairs, according to aerospace trade groups in Canada, as a fresh round of the U.S.-led trade war looms, Reuters is reporting.

Reuters noted U.S. President Trump's administration is set to enact reciprocal tariffs on trading partners on April 2, widening a dispute that has already slapped 25% duties on steel and aluminum imports to the U.S., sparking retaliation from Canada. While reports suggest some sector-specific goods would be excluded, counterstrikes are already being weighed, with Canada consulting domestic industries on proposed retaliatory tariffs on $125 billion of U.S. goods. Melanie Lussier, president of the trade group Aero Montreal, said Canada's proposed counter tariffs cover certain U.S.-made items like sensors that would be difficult to source elsewhere, since parts must be certified to meet safety requirements. Aerospace companies are set to discuss the prospect of being squeezed by duties from both countries at an industry supply chain summit on Tuesday in Montreal.

In other stock specific news, the Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven says Alimentation Couche-Tard ( ANCTF ) is understating the antitrust risk related to its takeover offer for the company, The Canadian Press is reporting on Tuesday. In a pair of documents, Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. says the proposal is a transformational cross-border acquisition involving significant regulatory hurdles unlike other deals done by the Quebec-based convenience store operator. The Japanese company says it is working with Couche-Tard to evaluate potential divestitures to increase the likelihood of satisfying U.S. antitrust regulators and any potential court challenge. However, it says it will not enter into a transaction with no clear path to closing that could leave the company in a "value destructive limbo" for multiple years.