Toronto stocks fall as financials and utilities weigh
Updated at 10:12 a.m. ET/ 1412 GMT
By Nikhil Sharma
Oct 22 (Reuters) -Canada's main index fell on Tuesday due to losses in utility and financial shares, as it took cues from declines in Wall Street indexes driven by rising U.S. treasury yields.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 114.34 points, or 0.46%, at 24,608.99, and was at its worst day since Sep. 6.
The falls in Wall Street indexes were the biggest driver of the losses, as rising Treasury yields affected rate-sensitive sectors, while investors focused on key corporate earnings.
Yield on the U.S. 10-year benchmark Treasury note US10YT=RR rose as much as 4.222% as investors recalibrated their interest rate cut bets.
Adding to the markets' jitters were the upcoming U.S. presidential elections on Nov. 5, with a new Reuters poll showing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris slightly ahead of Republican former President Donald Trump.
"The big news in Canada this week is tomorrow with the Bank of Canada. So today, we're most likely following the U.S. markets," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
The Canadian central bank is widely expected to slash policy rates by 50 basis points, its first such reduction in 15 years outside of the pandemic era.
Investors also assessed a 0.6% decrease in September producer prices figures from August, the last dataset before the BoC convenes its policy-setting meeting.
On TSX, at least nine sectors nursed losses, led by the rate-sensitive utilities .GSPTTUT that fell 1.1%.
The financials .SPTTFS slipped over 0.6% as the most heavily weighted sector was partly hurt by a 6.3% fall in goeasy GSY.TO, after brokerage BMO downgraded the consumer lender to "market perform" from "outperform".
In contrast, the materials sector .GSPTTMT rose 0.4% as gold prices climbed on higher demand due to rising geopolitical tensions, U.S. election uncertainties and prospects of central banks lowering rates. GOL/
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore
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