By Adriano Marchese

Toronto stocks were slightly lower in midday trading on Tuesday after remaining modestly higher throughout the morning. Most sectors were in the red, with communications stocks the outsized laggards. Materials, tech and producer manufacturing were among the few gainers.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.2% to 24492.97 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 declined 0.3% to 1466.71.

The stocks of Canada's major telecom companies were all lower at midday after the Bank of America downgraded Rogers Communications and BCE on the back of continued challenges in 2025. Bank of America analyst David Barden said subscriber growth in mobile and internet has been offset by falling prices, stronger competitive intensity and the strategic moves of the newest fourth provider that shows no sign of ebbing. These negatives are compounded by new limits to immigration targets in Canada, which are expected to add a big drag on providers and drive up churn. BofA downgraded Rogers to neutral from buy, and BCE to underperform from neutral. Barden noted that Telus is the better-positioned telecom in the country thanks to its recent mitigating actions.

Among the telecom companies, the shares of Rogers Communications shares fell 5% to 40.16 Canadian dollars ($27.93). BCE shares declined by 5.5% to C$31.55.

Other market movers:

WELL Health Technologies shares rose 1.4% to C$6.71 after the digital healthcare company said it expects momentum when it comes to acquisitions to continue in 2025.

IAMGold said it is targeting another year of strong production growth as its Cote Gold mine in Canada continues to ramp up. Shares rose 2% to C$8.05.

Sierra Metals formerly rejected a hostile takeover bid from privately-held Peruvian miner Alpayana that valued it at roughly C$180 million. The company said it saw the offer as too low and opportunistic. Shares rose 3.7% to C$0.85.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2025 12:09 ET (17:09 GMT)

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