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Restaurant Brands gains on quarterly results beat
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Colliers International slumps after profit miss
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Blackberry tops TSX on plans for strategic review
By Shristi Achar A and Vansh Agarwal May 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, as weakness in crude dragged energy shares lower, while caution prevailed ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision this week. At 10:02 a.m. ET (1402 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 149.16 points, or 0.72%, at 20,465.94. The energy sector led the declines, down 3.1%, as crude prices extended their losses from the previous session after data showed manufacturing activity in China, the world's top crude importer, fell unexpectedly in April. While focus was on earnings for the last few days, markets are now awaiting the Fed's rate decision due on Wednesday to assess if interest rates in the world's largest economy will stay higher for longer. "There's a flight to safety in equity markets this morning due to nervousness surrounding tomorrow's Fed meeting as well as the ongoing crisis in regional banking," said Brandon Michael, senior analyst at ABC Funds.
The rate-sensitive real estate sector was down
1.3%.
Consumer discretionary bucked the trend, up 0.1%,
led by a 2.2% gain in Restaurant Brands International Inc after the company beat expectations for first-quarter
revenue and profit, boosted by higher traffic and prices at Tim
Hortons restaurants.
Among other major movers, Colliers International Group Inc slumped 9.7% to the bottom of the TSX, after the
investment management company missed first-quarter profit
estimates.
Thomson Reuters Corp posted higher sales and profit
in the first quarter, and said it plans a deeper investment in
artificial intelligence. Shares of the news and information
company, however, fell 1.4%.
BlackBerry Ltd added 4.6% after the company said it
would conduct a review of strategic alternatives, which could
include the possible separation of its one or more businesses.
(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Vansh Agarwal in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
