The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canadian stocks fell for a second straight day on Tuesday as tech and real estate lost ground, but the decline was restrained ahead of an expected supersized interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 121.09 points at 25,504.33, extending its pullback from a record closing high on Friday. Wall Street's main indexes also ended lower as investors awaited today's U.S. inflation report. The Toronto market has added 21.7 per cent since the start of 2024, including 16.6 per cent since midyear. "We've had a great run, particularly in the TSX in the last, call it, six months," said Sadiq Adatia, chief investment officer at BMO Asset Management. "This is people looking at markets, taking some gains." The Bank of Canada will slash interest rates by a half percentage point at a second consecutive meeting on Wednesday, according to most economists polled by Reuters, many of whom changed their view on news of a sharp rise in unemployment. In the U.S., the S&P 500 rallied with help from a 5.6-per-cent gain from Alphabet after it unveiled a new chip, while Walgreens Boots was up 17.7 per cent.