Equities in Toronto achieved the levels Wednesday at which they adjourned Tuesday, but not much else, weighed down by mining stocks, while data showed annual inflation rate rose at its fastest pace since 2011.
The TSX/S&P Composite cleared breakeven 1.76 points to greet noon Wednesday at 20,365.35
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.04 cents to 79.16 cents U.S.
Bombardier rose 13 cents, or 8.5%, to $1.66 after a six-day losing streak.
BlackBerry gained 49 cents, or 4%, to $12.72, after U.S. brokerage Canaccord Genuity said it believed a cybersecurity flaw in a software designed by the company will have a minimal impact to its long-term prospects.
Canada plans to resume military flights to Afghanistan to evacuate civilians as the United States regains control of the Kabul airport, the Canadian Armed Forces said late on Tuesday.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.7% on a year-over-year basis in July, up from a 3.1% gain in June. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.5% in July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.8 points to 876.90
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups had gone green by lunch hour, with health-care sprinting 2.1%, while information technology and consumer discretionaries were each up 0.4%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, sliding 2.7%, materials, off 1.7% and utilities, fading 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock indexes were flat Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes for insights into when the central bank may start removing stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 25.7 points to 35,317.58.
The S&P 500 slipped 4.07 points to 4,444.01.
The NASDAQ eked up 4.57 points to 14,660.75.
Investors also waded through more earnings reports from major retailers Tuesday.
Shares of Lowe’s popped after the home improvement company’s earnings last quarter topped expectations, with higher sales to home professionals.
Target shares pulled back despite the retailer beating on second-quarter earnings. The company’s profit and revenue topped expectations and the company raised its forecast for the second half of the year, citing a good start to back-to-school spending.
Meanwhile, Pfizer shared gained and Moderna’s stock traded off its lows after the U.S. announced it will begin distributing COVID-19 booster shots next month. New data show vaccine protection wanes over time, top U.S. health officials said.
The booster shot announcement comes as the highly contagious delta variant spreads, weighing on investor sentiment about the pace of economic reopening.
The Federal Reserve publishes its meeting minutes from its July gathering at 2 p.m. ET. Market participants will be looking for clues about when the central bank could start dialing back its monthly bond buying program.
Since that July meeting, there’s been growing support within the Fed to announce a tapering in September and begin it in October.
Elsewhere, housing starts fell 7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.534 million units, well below economists’ expectations.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were lower, raising yields to 1.28% from Tuesday’s 1.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 29 cents to $66.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $1.20 to $1,786.60 U.S. an ounce.