Canada's main stock index edged lower on Tuesday, weighed down by a more than 1% slide in energy and healthcare stocks and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting, while a jump in Air Canada shares on upbeat earnings helped limit losses.
At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 18.73 points, or 0.09%, at 21,228.28.
Leading declines were healthcare stocks, with Bausch Health Cos Inc down 2% after the pharmaceutical company reported dismal third-quarter earnings.
The energy sector fell 1.2%, retreating from a 30-month high on weakness in crude prices.
Investors were cautious ahead of the Fed's two-day meeting which ends on Wednesday, where policymakers are expected to start scaling back bond purchases.
TSX gets lift from energy stocks, manufacturing data
Air Canada was a bright spot, the biggest percentage gainer on the index with a 4.8% gain after the country's largest carrier beat quarterly revenue estimates.
"I think the Canadian earnings get quite a bit of strength backed by energy, material and financial sectors and a lot of that is already priced in," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
"We're due for a little bit of a pause because the next stage in terms of the recovery and the reopening will show weaker earnings and some headwinds from supply chain and just slower growth."
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.0% as gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,791.3 an ounce.
Highlights
Thomson Reuters Corp reported higher quarterly sales and raised its full-year revenue forecast for the third time this year as the global news and information company benefits from a recovering global economy, sending its shares up 1.9%.
Westport Fuel Systems Inc and Gibson Energy Inc were the biggest decliners on the index.
The TSX posted 5 new 52-week highs and one new low.
Across all Canadian issues there were 48 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows, with total volume of 29.91 million shares.
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