Toronto Stocks Advance; Bank of Montreal Slides on 3Q Miss

By Adriano Marchese

Canadian stocks were firmly higher mid-trading on Tuesday.

Most sectors were higher in the session, led by strong gains primarily in tech services, tech and process industries. Health services was the only sector posting declines.

Canada's banks continued their third-quarter reports, with Bank of Montreal posting a notable miss due to higher provision for credit losses. Bank of Nova Scotia also faced a higher provision for credit losses, but only a slight miss to income.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was 0.91% higher, at 20207.41. The blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was 0.95% higher, at 1209.75.

Shares of Bank of Montreal were down 0.4%, to 113.63 Canadian dollars (US$83.55), climbing back up from deeper lows in the morning after it reported lower adjusted earnings of C$2.78 a share, missing adjusted earnings targets of a rise to C$3.13 a share. The bank's provision for credit losses more than doubled to C$492 million from C$136 million, weighing on profits.

Other market movers:

Bank of Nova Scotia rose by 1.8%, to C$63.96, after reporting a decline in profit in its fiscal third quarter, as provisions for credit losses and poorer performance among its core businesses weighed on the period, while adjusted earnings of C$1.73 a share was virtually in line with expectations of C$1.74 a share.

Hut 8 Mining shares were over 16% higher, at C$3.59, after the company said that a proxy advisory firm recommended that its shareholders vote in favor of combining with U.S. Data Mining, which is doing business as US Bitcoin Corp.

CAE shares climbed after the company said it won a 10-year pilot-training agreement with Indonesia's Batik Air. Shares were 1.9% higher, at C$32.38.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 29, 2023 12:19 ET (16:19 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.