OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s annual inflation rate in June posted its biggest jump in more than nine years as restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak were lifted, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
The rate jumped to 0.7% from a 0.4% decline in May but was still well below the Bank of Canada’s 2% target. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the annual rate to increase to 0.3%.
“It’s consistent with an economy that was almost completely shut down in many ways in April but is beginning to heal over the past few months,” said Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets.
June marked the end of two months of deflation. The Bank of Canada – which says interest rates will remain near record lows for another two years – predicts inflation will remain weak in the near term.
The CPI common measure, which the central bank says is the best gauge of the economy’s underperformance, edged up to 1.5% from 1.4% in May.
The main drivers of growth included recovering prices for energy, food, passenger vehicles, clothing and footwear, Statscan said.
“There is some pent up demand there. Our guess is we’ll start to see some of that dissipate” as government benefits programs end, said Mark Chandler at RBC Capital Markets.
Gasoline prices declined by 15.7% compared to a 29.8% plunge in May, mainly as demand grew with the gradual reopening of businesses and public services, Statscan said.
Meat prices climbed 8.1% from June 2019. Overall, prices rose in nine of the 10 provinces.
The Canadian dollar edged up 0.2% to C$1.3429 to the U.S. dollar, or 74.47 U.S. cents.
The 1.1 percentage point advance from May to June matches the increase seen between February and March 2011.
(Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Allison Lampert in Montreal and Nichola Saminather in Toronto; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
