Canadian Market Pares Early Gains; Materials Stocks Stay Firm

(RTTNews) - After opening on a firm note and climbing further up north, the Canadian market pared gains and drifted down into negative territory on Thursday, weighed down by losses in energy, financials and industrials sectors.

Materials stocks, which lifted the market higher earlier in the session, remain positive despite paring some early gains. Communications stocks are among the other notable gainers. Tech stocks are turning in a mixed performance.

Firm metal prices and optimism about another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve contributed to the bright start.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 30,790.61 earlier in the session, was down 103.64 points or 0.34% at 30,533.48 a little while ago.

Ngex Minerals surged 7.5%. Endeavour Silver Corp and Lundin Gold are up 7% and 6.3%, respectively. Eldorado Gold, Perpetua Resources Corp., France-Nevada Corp, First Majestic Caorp and Agnico Eagle Mines are up 4 to 5.3%.

Tech stock Celestica is up nearly 5% on rating upgrade. Shopify is up 2.3%, while Kinaxis, BlackBerry and CGI Group are up 1 to 1.3%.

Quebecor Inc. shares are gaining 3.7% and Rogers Communications is up nearly 1%, while Cogeco Communications and BCE are up with modest gains.

Financials stocks Fairfax Financial Holdings and Brookfield Asset Management are down 2.8% and 2.1%, respectively. Sun Life Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Laurentian Bank are also notably lower.

Bank of Montreal is down nearly 2%. The bank has announced an agreement to sell 138 U.S. branches to First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, the financial holding company for First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (FCNCA), as part of a broader plan to optimize its branch network and refocus on high-growth markets.

In economic news, Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term index fell 3.9 points to 46.3 in October 2025, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed.

Housing starts in Canada jumped 14% to 279,234 units in September 2025 from 244,543 in August, data from Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation showed.