TSX falls mirroring Wall Street despite positive bank earnings
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, tracking its Wall Street peers' decline, while positive bank earnings did little to improve sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), opens new tab was down 0.76% at 24,962.54.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq-led Wall Street fell to a six-week low on Tuesday after fresh data pointed to deteriorating consumer mood and investors braced for the potential impact of tighter U.S. trade controls on Beijing.
A report late on Monday said the U.S. was planning more restrictions on Nvidia's chip exports to China.
On TSX, too, the information technology (.SPTTTK), opens new tab shares lost the most, down 2.6%.
The energy sector (.SPTTEN), opens new tab dropped 1.9% as oil prices tumbled.
Materials (.GSPTTMT), opens new tab also weighed on the index after gold prices fell as investors booked profits following a record high in the previous session.
Further tempering risk-taking, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday stated tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports remain "on time and on schedule," despite both countries' efforts to enhance border security and curb fentanyl flow into the U.S. before the March 4 deadline.
Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth, called the comments "a big negative."
On the positive side, heavily-weighted financials (.SPTTFS), opens new tab gained 0.42%. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), opens new tab and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), opens new tab on Tuesday beat analysts' expectations for quarterly profit, driven by strong income from capital markets and wealth management businesses.
Both banks said they would wait for clarity on U.S. government tariffs to build more rainy-day reserves and take actions to manage risks.
Bank of Montreal gained 4.4%. Bank of Nova Scotia, however, fell 2.1%.
Other top lenders are also set to report later in the week.
Real estate (.GSPTTRE), opens new tab and utilities (.GSPTTUT), opens new tab sectors also rose in the day as Canada's 10-year benchmark yield fell to 2.986%.
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