Feb 26 (Reuters) - Canada's resources-heavy index fell on Thursday as weakness in commodity-linked stocks outweighed gains in tech stocks driven by upbeat earnings from Salesforce.
The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), was down 0.1% at 34,084.65 points as of 10:21 a.m. ET.
Worries over AI disruption faded, as shares of Salesforce (CRM.N), gained 3.5% after an upbeat first-quarter revenue forecast.
Tech stocks on TSX climbed 1.3%, leading the sectoral gains.
But shares of chip giant Nvidia (NVDA.O), dropped 3.6% as upbeat results did not do enough to impress investors.
Among banks in Canada, Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), shares fell 1.9%, even as the lender's fourth-quarter profit beat estimates, while CIBC (CM.TO), and Toronto Dominion Bank (TD.TO), gained 3.6% and 0.8% respectively after a rise in quarterly profit.
Trading in the broader financials subindex (.SPTTFS), opens new tab, weighted heaviest on the index, remained choppy. Stocks in the sector were down 0.02%.
"It will be difficult for banks to carry the higher multiple. They could face some headwinds this year, specifically with the uncertainty around the Canada-United States-Mexico (CUSMA) trade deal," said Michael Dehal, senior portfolio manager at Raymond James.
Energy shares (.SPTTEN), shed 0.3% as oil prices declined following the biggest jump in U.S. crude inventories in three years. The U.S. and Iran could reach a framework for a deal if Washington separates "nuclear and non-nuclear issues", a senior Iranian official said.
The global gold index (.SPTTGD), and the broader materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes metal miners, fell 0.9%, as gold prices eased, while silver prices dropped nearly 3%.
Healthcare shares (.GSPTTHC), were down 1.2%, the most on TSX.
Energy infrastructure firm Canadian Utilities' (CU.TO), shares fell 2.6% after reporting a decline in quarterly profit, sending utilities (.GSPTTUT), stocks down 0.1%.
Apparel maker Gildan's (GIL.TO), shares declined 5.5% after quarterly results. The broader consumer discretionary stocks (.GSPTTCD), dropped 0.3%.
Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Sahal Muhammed
