After falling for two straight days, Canadian stocks staged a minor recovery on Tuesday as firm precious metals prices boosted investors’ confidence ahead of key central bank decisions. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced by 74 points, or 0.2%, for the day to settle at 31,244 — trimming its month-to-date loss to nearly 0.4%.
Despite declines in some key sectors like consumer discretionary, energy, and industrial, strong intraday gains in metals and mining and financial stocks lifted the TSX benchmark.
Top TSX Composite movers and active stocks
Pan American Silver, Aya Gold & Silver, First Majestic Silver, and Skeena Resources were the day’s top-performing stocks, with each climbing by at least 6.6%.
Perpetua Resources (TSX:PPTA) also rallied by over 5% to $36.83 per share after the company announced a new partnership with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
Under the agreement, INL will host and operate a pilot processing plant to recover critical minerals, including antimony, from Perpetua’s Stibnite Gold Project. The facility aims to produce military-grade antimony trisulfide, a key input for U.S. defence systems.
In contrast, Ivanhoe Mines, Paramount Resources, Bombardier, and Advantage Energy slid by more than 4% each, making them the session’s worst-performing TSX stocks.
Shares of Parex Resources (TSX:PXT) also fell by 3% to $17.67 apiece, extending their weekly declines to nearly 8%. This selloff in PXT stock came after the Calgary-based independent oil and gas firm ended talks to acquire the Latin American energy company GeoPark.
Earlier this year, Parex had proposed a US$9-per-share cash deal but said ongoing discussions failed to bridge valuation differences. The company concluded there was no clear path to an agreement and decided to walk away from the potential transaction. Investors may have viewed the failed deal as a missed opportunity for growth or synergy, triggering a selloff.
Based on their daily trade volume, Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, and TC Energy were the five most active stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
TSX today
Commodity prices were largely mixed in early trading on Wednesday, pointing to a flat open for the resource-heavy main TSX index today.
In addition to the Bank of Canada’s (BoC) interest rate decision and press conference this morning, Canadian investors will also closely watch the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy update, including its rate decision, press conference, and economic projections, later in the day.
While BoC is widely expected to keep the overnight rate on hold, Wall Street expects the Fed to cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. Markets will be watching closely for confirmation of that move, as well as any forward guidance on the pace and scope of potential cuts in early 2026.
The TSX could react sharply depending on how today’s rate decisions and guidance align with market expectations, especially in rate-sensitive sectors like real estate and financials.
On the corporate events front, the TSX-listed Transcontinental will release its latest quarterly earnings report after the market closing bell.
Market movers on the TSX today
