By Shubham Batra
(Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index jumped amid broader gains on Friday as investors cheered U.S. data that showed inflation rose moderately in June, keeping hopes of a U.S. rate cut intact for September.
At 10:04 a.m. ET (1404 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 181.7 points, or 0.8%, at 22789.73 at open. The benchmark index is set to log its fifth weekly incline, if gains hold.
Investors’ positions of an interest rate cut by the U.S. central bank in September remained unchanged after prices in the world’s largest economy rose moderately last month.
“I think the markets expect a rate cut now as opposed to before. Many people have expected it to be pushed back and that it was a probably a 50-50 probability that it would happen at all this year,” said Daniel Nowlan, managing director of Equity Capital Markets Group at the National Bank of Canada (OTC:).
Money markets currently see an 87.5% chance of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.
All Canadian sectors were trading in the green after the data, except energy that was flat, as oil prices were pressured by muted demand in China and hopes of a Gaza ceasefire deal that could ease Middle East tensions and accompanying supply concerns. [O/R]
Rate-sensitive utilities and banks were up 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively, while materials shares climbed 1.1% as gold prices rose more after the U.S. data firmed up hopes of a rate cut. [GOL/]
Wall Street also gained on Friday, with the Nasdaq taking the lead, as most megacaps and chip stocks recovered, while a largely in-line key inflation reading kept rate-cut bets intact.
In company news, packaging & containers company Winpak was the top gainer on the TSX with a 5.3% jump after brokerages BMO and CIBC raised price targets of the stock.
Meanwhile, Canada will likely delay the sale of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline until after the national election in 2025, Bloomberg News reported.
Read the full article here
