Canadian Market Stays Positive As Investors React To Earnings

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market's benchmark index S&P/TSX Composite Index moved up north on Wednesday, lifted by gains in materials and financials sectors. Despite paring some early gains, the index remained fairly well placed in positive territory a little past noon.

Data showing consumer price inflation in the U.S. eased to 3.4% in July, raising hopes the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates anytime soon.

Investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings updates in addition to following the developments on the geopolitical front.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 133.93 points or 0.37% at 36,609.85 nearly an hour past noon.

Franco-Nevada fell sharply after missing earnings expectations. Constellation Software tumbled 8% after revenue came in slightly below forecasts despite an EPS beat.

Air Canada soared more than 10% despite reporting a loss C$178 million or C$0.63 per share in the second-quarter, as against earnings of C$186 million or C$0.51 per share in the corresponding quarter last year.

Excluding one-time items, earnings decreased to C$114 million or C$0.40 per share from C$207 million or C$0.60 per share previous year. However, operating revenues increased to C$6.27 billion from C$5.6 billion of prior year, Air Canada said.

Maple Leaf Foods shed 2.7%. The company reported earnings from continuing operations of $41 million ($0.33 basic earnings per share) in the second quarter, compared to $39 million ($0.31 basic earnings per share) for the same period last year.

Hydro One gained 1.5% after reporting second quarter basic earnings per share of $0.62 compared to EPS of $0.54 for the same period in 2025.

Metro Inc. climbed 1.3%. The company reported third-quarter net earnings of $211.3 million, down 34.6% from a year ago. Adjusted net earnings came in at $262.6 million, down 20.9% compared to the year-ago quarter.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed building permits in Canada rose 18.5% month-over-month to C$14.9 billion in June, rebounding sharply from a 1.7% decline in May and far exceeding forecasts for a 0.8% increase. This marks the highest reading in over two years.