Canada’s main stock index dropped Monday to start the month down along with U.S. markets as trade tensions rose.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 58.73 points at 16,981.47.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 268.37 points at 27,783.04. The S&P 500 index was down 27.11 points at 3,113.87, while the Nasdaq composite was down 97.48 points at 8,567.99.

The Canadian dollar averaged US75.20¢, down from an average of US75.25¢ on Friday.

The January crude contract was up US79¢ at US$55.96 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was up US4.8¢ at US$2.33 per mmBTU.

The February gold contract closed down US$3.50 at US$1,469.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down a cent at US$2.65 a pound.