CANADA STOCKS-TSX futures rise as bank earnings kick off

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as investors assessed mixed quarterly earnings by the nation's major banks.

March futures on the S&P/TSX index SXFcv1 were up 0.23% at 6.55 a.m. ET (1155 GMT).

Bank of Montreal's BMO.TO first-quarter profit rose on strong capital markets business, while Bank of Nova Scotia's BNS.TO quarterly profit fell due to an impairment loss from its deal to transfer Latin American operations to Colombian bank Davivienda.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Monday tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports remain "on time and on schedule". The statement was made despite both countries' efforts to enhance border security and curb fentanyl flow into the U.S. before the March 4 deadline.

Stateside, futures slipped due to weakness in chip companies and megacaps, with Nvidia NVDA.O dropping 1.5% ahead of its eagerly awaited results. .N

Nvidia's results on Wednesday will be crucial for the sector, as investors question the industry's significant spending on AI following news of low-cost competition from China's DeepSeek, which unsettled markets in January.

In commodities, gold prices XAU= eased after hovering near an all-time high on Tuesday, as fears of a trade war and instability amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans drove safe-haven flows. GOL/

Oil prices LCOc1, CLc1 were steady, after a bump the previous day, when fresh U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran increased concerns that supply might tighten. O/R

Looking ahead, the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure index reading on Friday is a key metric to assess the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.

The Canadian benchmark stock index ended nearly unchanged on Monday.

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