Canada Stocks: TSX jumps on U.S. inflation data relief

Centerra Gold

10/08/2022 15:15

By Johann M. Cherian
    Aug 10 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on
Wednesday, with technology stocks leading gains, after data
showed a slower-than-expected rise in U.S. inflation last month.
      
    At 10:06 a.m. ET (1406 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index  .GSPTSE  was up 194.76 points, or
0.99%, at 19,773.06.
    Technology stocks  .SPTTTK  jumped 2.7% as Converge
Technology Solutions  CTS.TO  surged over 12% to lead gains.
Canadian tech firms were also tracking a 2.2% move higher on the
Nasdaq Composite index  .IXIC .  
    Data showed U.S. prices were unchanged in July due to a
sharp drop in the cost of gasoline, delivering the first notable
sign of relief for weary Americans who have watched inflation
climb over the past two years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZL0KI
    It came as a relief to investors worried that aggressive
tightening cycles by central banks across the world to tame
inflation could push the global economy into a recession. 
    "Markets have good reason to cheer the CPI number finally.
It's taking a lot of heavy lifting by the central banks to raise
interest rates and talk down the economy and that seems to be
working," said Barry Schwartz, portfolio manager at Baskin
Financial Services.
    Canada is expected to report its inflation figures next
week, and investors are expecting a 50-basis-point interest rate
hike by the Bank of Canada in September.
    "I would look for more muted hikes going forward in the
50-basis-point range as commodity prices have fallen a little
bit," Schwartz added. 
    The energy sector  .SPTTEN  dropped 0.7%, the sole sectoral
decliner, as U.S. crude  CLc1  prices were down 1.5% a barrel,
while Brent crude  LCOc1  lost 1.4%.  O/R 

 (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Shreyashi Sanyal in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
 ((Yohann.MCherian@thomsonreuters.com;))