The Canadian market experienced a positive lift on Tuesday afternoon, being bolstered by increases in the energy, utilities, and consumer sectors. However, traders remain watchful in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy announcement.
The unexpected dip in Canada's headline inflation in February has contributed to this optimistic outlook. According to data released by Statistics Canada, the consumer price index increased by 2.8% year-on-year, down from January's 2.9% boost. This was contrary to predictions of a 3.1% increase in inflation.
With respect to seasonal adjustments on a monthly basis, consumer prices climbed by 0.1%, as opposed to the 0.1% decrease from the previous month. Core CPI, when excluding food and energy, remained consistent at 0.1%.
Given the unanticipated decline in headline inflation, there is now growing belief that the Canadian central bank may soon contemplate a rate cut.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index rose by 75.08 points or 0.34%, settling at 21,912.26.
AutoCanada Inc made an impressive gain of close to 4%. Other companies like West Fraser Timber, Tecsys Inc, Morguard Corporation, Cogeco Inc, Alimentation Couche-Tard, RB Global, TFI International, Toromont Industries, Canadian Tire Corporation, and CGI Inc, made advances ranging from 1% to 3%.
On the other hand, Celestica Inc faced a 3.5% decline. Newmont Corporation, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Franco-Nevada Corporation, Waste Connections, and Intact Financial Corporation all experienced moderate to substantial losses.
Pembina Pipeline Corp announced that it had obtained a "no-action letter" from the Canadian Competition Bureau, signifying that the Commissioner of Competition has no plans to challenge Pembina's proposed acquisition of Enbridge's stake in the Alliance, Aux Sable, and NRGreen joint ventures, causing its stock to rise by about 0.8%.
Meanwhile, K92 Mining Inc saw a 3% decrease after the company disclosed that it had temporarily halted underground operations at the Kainantu Gold Mine due to an unrelated industrial incident earlier this month.
