By Adriano Marchese


Shares in Toronto were slightly higher mid-trading on Tuesday, climbing up from minor lows earlier in the morning.

Canadian bank stocks were low, but were led by Bank of Nova Scotia that was the first of the "Big 6" banks to report its fourth-quarter earnings, posting lower profit and higher costs.

Most other sectors were in positive territory, led by materials, energy and tech. Other than financials, health services, was the another notable outsized laggard.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index were up 0.21%, to 20074.73, and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was 0.12% higher, at 1208.10.

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia were 4.2% lower, at 57.72 Canadian dollars (US$42.38), after the company said higher provision for credit losses in its fourth quarter drove profits lower. The provisions, which are a estimate of what the bank could lose due to bad debts, were driven up by an unfavorable macroeconomic outlook and uncertainty around the effects of higher interest rates.


Other market movers:

Nighthawk Gold's shares were down 8.9%, to C$0.36, after the Canadian gold exploration company agreed to a takeover by Moneta Gold in an all-stock deal. Under the agreement between the companies, Nighthawk shareholders would receive 0.42 of a Moneta share for each share held, with an ownership division of 66% of the merged company for Moneta and the remaining 34% for Nighthawk's owners.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-28-23 1217ET