Toronto stocks pull back from record highs as commodities slide, defensives cushion losses

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published February 17, 2026

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Canadian equities fell on Tuesday, with commodity-linked shares leading declines as investors digested softer inflation data and watched for fresh signals from the U.S. central bank, after the benchmark had set record levels earlier this month.

The S&P/TSX Composite was down 1.32% at 32,633.82 points as of 10:24 a.m. ET, pressured by a pullback in metals and oil.

Gold miners were among the biggest drags, with the gold sub-index down 4.3% as bullion slid to a more than one-week low on a firmer U.S. dollar. Silver fell about 5% and copper weakened amid rising inventories, sending the broader materials group down 4.3%.

Energy shares lost 1.3% as crude prices eased after :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2} said Washington and Tehran had reached an understanding on the main guiding principles of nuclear talks, easing supply-disruption concerns.

Technology stocks were down 1.2%, while defensive and cyclically mixed sectors offered limited support: consumer staples gained 0.7%, industrials rose 0.8%, and financials added 0.1%.

Investors are also focused on the release of the Fed's January meeting minutes on Wednesday for additional clues on the rate outlook.