Canada Stocks: TSX retreats from record high after earnings misses for consumer-related stocks

Restaurant Brands International

07/08/2025 21:35

TSX ends down 0.6% at 27,761.27

Touches an intraday record high at 27,977.80

Consumer discretionary paces declines

Canadian Tire and Restaurant Brands miss estimates

Updates at market close

By Fergal Smith

Aug 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index pulled back on Thursday from a record high as investors assessed a mixed picture for corporate earnings and ahead of domestic jobs that could offer clues on how well the domestic economy is coping with U.S. tariffs.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended down 159.60 points, or 0.6%, at 27,761.27, after earlier touching an intraday record high at 27,977.80.

"The earnings picture has been mixed," said Michael Dehal, a senior portfolio manager at Dehal Investment Partners at Raymond James, pointing to misses for some financial and consumer discretionary shares.

"There is a lot of caution due to uncertainty with the macro (outlook) and the tariffs ... We need to have sentiment improve both with the consumer and businesses to really fuel a better economic picture."

Canada's employment report for July, due on Friday, is expected to show a more moderate jobs gain of 13,500 after the economy added 83,100 jobs in June.

The consumer discretionary sector fell 2.3%, with the shares of Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd CTCa.TO and Restaurant Brands International Inc QSR.TO down 10.6% and 5.2% respectively after the companies missed quarterly profit estimates.

Manulife Financial MFC.TO shares lost 3.9%. The insurer also reported quarterly earnings below analysts' estimates, largely due to elevated credit and mortality losses in the United States.

The heavily weighted financials sector was down 0.7%, while technology ended 1.4% lower as Shopify Inc  SHOP.TO gave back some of the previous day's blockbuster gains.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO surpassed expectations for second-quarter profit. Still, its shares declined 3%, weighing on the energy group, which ended 0.9% lower.

The price of oil oil CLc1 settled down 0.7% at $63.88 a barrel as expectations rose for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine.

Just two of 10 major sectors ended higher, including materials. Materials, which includes metal mining shares, added 0.7% as the price of gold XAU= benefited from speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Alistair Bell)

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