Canada’s main stock index was little changed on Tuesday, as losses in materials were offset by gains in technology stocks, while investors assessed a hotter-than-expected inflation reading from the United States.
The TSX Composite regained 58.57 points midday Tuesday to 21,827.79.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.14 cents at 74.05 cents U.S.
National Bank of Canada is exploring options for its Cambodian unit ABA Bank, including its sale for more than $2 billion in a deal, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. National shares gained 31 cents to $110.14.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 3.14 points to 556.20.
Eight of the 12 subgroups had moved positive by noon EDT, with information technology soaring 1%, health-care haler by 0.8%, and industrials up 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, shrinking 2.1%, materials, down 0.8%, and utilities, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were higher on Tuesday after the latest inflation report largely met consensus estimates for February.
The Dow Jones Industrials surged 213.04 points to pause at noon hour Tuesday at 38,982.70.
The broader index recovered 43.37 points to 5,161.31.
The NASDAQ rocketed 184,01 points, or 1.2%, to 16,203.29.
Technology stocks spurred higher after the release. Shares of chipmaker Nvidia climbed 2.2%. Microsoft gained roughly 1.3%. Oracle surged more than 9% after beating Wall Street earnings estimates.
The consumer price index climbed 0.4% in February and 3.2% year over year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday. Economist polled by Dow Jones expected a 0.4% increase last month and 3.1% year-over-year, respectively. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy from the headline reading, climbed 0.4% in February, compared to a forecast gain of 0.3%.
Investors now turn their attention to the producer price index report due this week and the Fed’s next monetary policy meeting later this month.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 4.15% from Monday’s 4.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved 42 cents to $78.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices flopped $21.40 to $2,167.20.
