By Adriano Marchese

Toronto stocks were nearly unchanged as Canadian fourth-quarter bank earnings season kicked off with Bank of Nova Scotia.

Sector performance was split Tuesday with losses primarily in consumer durables, finance and transportation offset by gains primarily in materials, tech and health tech stocks.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index edged up 0.1% to 25616.05 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was flat at 1536.79.

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia shares fell 3% to 77.42 Canadian dollars ($55.11) after the Canadian financial institution said it will be cautious on capital allocation. The new approach comes as the change in administration in the U.S. introduces uncertainty for the global economy even as central bankers are easing monetary policy in response to cooling inflation.

Other market movers:

Bombardier shares rose after signing a strategic agreement with Honeywell to provide advanced technology for current and future Bombardier aircraft in avionics, propulsion and satellite communications technologies. The partnership is estimated to have a value of $17 billion.

AltaGas shares advanced 1.6% to C$34.67 after it set its growth targets for 2025 and increased its annual dividend thanks to growth across its three main business segments. The upper ends of its normalized earnings per share and normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization all came in above consensus expectations.

McEwen Mining's stock rose 11% to C$9.25 a share after the miner's copper subsidiary secured an environmental permit for its Los Azules project in Argentina, one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits globally.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 03, 2024 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)

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