TORONTO — Canada's main stock market index posted a small gain Thursday as it continued its climb this week, helped by strength in financial, telecom and technology stocks, while U.S. markets also rose after the latest inflation report.
The latest CPI print in the U.S. showed that inflation ticked higher in July to 3.2 per cent after 12 straight months of declines, but core inflation matched the smallest monthly increase in almost two years.
The report helped support continued hope for a soft landing in the U.S., said Tamsin Wilding, fixed income analyst at Leith Wheeler.
In both Canada and the U.S., investors will continue to look for data that supports a gradual softening of inflation and the labour market ahead of September, when central banks on both sides of the border are set to make their next rate decision, said Wilding.
“They've both been facing very similar dynamics on (the labour) front with elevated job vacancies, strong hiring through the first half of the year,” she said.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 67.61 points to 20,342.88.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average increased 52.79 points to 35,176.15.The S&P 500 index ticked up 1.12 points to 4,468.83, while the Nasdaq composite inched up 15.97 points to 13,737.99.
Continued gradual cooling in inflation and labour market data will be needed for central banks to have confidence that they’ve reached their terminal rate, Wilding said.
Expectations for the Federal Reserve’s September interest rate decision are mostly for a pause, helped by Thursday’s data, said Wilding.
While markets have been extra-sensitive to inflation and labour market data as investors look for continued reassurance that the central bank’s tightening campaign will ease, U.S. indices only rose slightly to end the day.
Given the inflation report didn’t surprise wildly to the upside or the downside, investors appear to be engaged in more technical summer trading, said Wilding. That results in more volatility, she added.
Thursday also saw a weak U.S. long bond auction in the afternoon, noted Wilding, followed by an uptick in treasury yields.
Yields have been on the rise recently amid concerns about federal government debt, and higher yields add pressure to equity markets, which were seeing higher gains in the morning before losing some of their steam throughout the afternoon.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.58 cents UScompared with 74.45 cents US on Wednesday.
The September crude oil contract was down US$1.58 cents at US$82.82 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was down 20 cents at US$2.76 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$1.70 at US$1,948.90 an ounce and the September copper contract was down two cents at US$3.77 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
