Canada's main stock index opened higher on Wednesday, soon after the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision that resulted in a quarter-point cut.
The TSX Composite Index moved higher 66.83 points to open Wednesday at 24,315.03
The Canadian dollar nosed up 0.08 cents to 69.37 cents U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed off from plans to double the trade duties on Canadian steel and aluminum products, following Ontario province's decision to suspend a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S. states of Minnesota, Michigan and New York.
The chaos around the implementation of Trump's tariffs has increased the risks of recession for the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
In corporate news, Step Energy Services missed fourth-quarter revenue expectations on Tuesday. Step shares dipped seven cents, or 1.7%, to $4.00.
The Bank of Canada reduced its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, the seventh consecutive cut, bringing its policy rate to 2.75%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved ahead 2.59 points to 604.48.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on in the first hour, with telecoms off 1.2%, consumer discretionary falling 0.8%, and gold, dulling 0.7%.
The five gainers were led by information technology, rocketing 1.7%, real-estate, up 0.9%, and energy, rumbling 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rebounded from a three-week rout on Wednesday after a soft inflation report eased concerns about the economy and as investors snapped up beaten-up technology shares.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost another 239.41 points to 41,194.07
The much-broader index recouped 7.79 points to 5,579.86.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 133.93 points to 17,570.03.
Nvidia shares gained 5%, while Meta Platforms and Tesla rose 3% and 6%, respectively.
The consumer price index, a broad measure of costs across the U.S. economy, increased 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%. This was lower than the respective Dow Jones estimates for 0.3% and 2.9%. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on the month and 3.1% for the past 12 months, both below expectations.
Part of the reason for the recent sell-off has been concern that President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policy would raise inflation and slow growth, otherwise known as stagflation. The CPI report eased those concerns. The report also would leave room for the Federal Reserve to cut rates again later this year if the economy needed it.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 4.29% from Tuesday’s 4.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on $1.27 to $67.52 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold progressed $2.60 an ounce to $2,923.50 U.S.
