Canada Stocks: TSX ends higher as bank earnings offset tech stock worries

Maple Leaf Foods

25/02/2025 21:25

TSX ends up 0.2% at 25,203.98

BMO gains 4.7% after earnings beat

Defensive stocks rise amid risk aversion

Tech and energy shares post declines

Updates at market close

By Fergal Smith

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected bank earnings offset a drop in oil prices and worries about the growth prospects for high-flying technology shares.

The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended up 52.72 points, or 0.2%, at 25,203.98, clawing back some recent losses. On Friday, the TSX posted its lowest closing level since Jan. 17.

Wall Street was mixed , with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hitting a six-week low, after fresh economic data indicated a deterioration in consumer sentiment and investors braced for the potential impact of tighter U.S. trade curbs on Beijing.

"It's just a rotation from growth to value, from momentum to defensive," said Ian Chong, a portfolio manager at First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc, adding that investors are concerned that AI-related capital expenditure isn't going to live up to expectations.

Heavily weighted financials  advanced 0.8% as Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO and Bank of Montreal BMO.TO beat analysts' expectations for quarterly profit. Shares of BMO rose 4.7%, while Scotiabank was down 1.2%.

Risk aversion was a tailwind for defensive stocks, said Chong.

Consumer staples added 1.6%, helped by a gain of 10.6% for Maple Leaf Foods Inc MFI.TO after the company's fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates.

Real estate and utilities gained ground as bond yields fell. The Canadian 10-year yield CA10YT=RR touched a near three-week low at 2.979%.

Technology lost 1.2%, with shares of electronic equipment firm Celestica Inc CLS.TO down nearly 4%.

Energy was also a drag, falling 1.6%, as the price of oil fell to a two-month low on weak economic news from the U.S. and Germany that fed fears of slower energy demand. U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled down 2.5% at $68.93 a barrel.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Alistair Bell)

 ((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))