Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday after the surprise fall in domestic headline inflation in February raised hopes of early interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada.
The TSX Composite registered higher 44.47 points soon after the opening bell at 21,881.65.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.39 cents to 73.49 cents U.S.
In domestic company news, K92 Mining slipped 3.1% after the miner said underground operations at a gold mine in Papua New Guinea have been temporarily suspended after a non-industrial incident earlier this month led to the death of an employee. K92 shares dwindled 28 cents, or 4.4%, to $6.07.
Brookfield Asset Management was down three cents to $54.88, as the company named insider Hadley Peer Marshall as chief financial officer.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada says the Consumer Price Index rose 2.8% on a year-over-year basis in February, down from a 2.9% gain in January. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 3.98 points to 545.34.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were ahead, with consumer discretionary stocks surging 0.7%, energy 0.6% higher, and real-estate stronger 0.5%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, down 0.7%, information technology, sliding 0.6%, and materials off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell Tuesday as traders took to the latest announcements from Nvidia’s artificial intelligence conference. Wall Street also turned its eyes to Washington as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 78.21 points to 38,868.64.
The S&P 500 index lopped off 13.28 points to 5,136.14.
The NASDAQ slumped 110 points to 15,993.44.
Chip darling Nvidia pulled back 3.1% as investors evaluate the news from its first-ever GTC Conference. CEO Jensen Huang unveiled Nvidia’s latest AI chip, labeled Blackwell, which he touted as a significantly more powerful successor to its chips that power a multitude of AI operations. The stock had rallied more than 78% year to date heading into the event, possibly enticing investors to book some profits following the news.
Super Micro Computer, a primary vendor for building out Nvidia’s AI servers, dropped more than 11.5% on news of a share offering. Shares have ripped more than 250% higher this year on AI enthusiasm, leading the stock to be added to the S&P 500 on Monday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.31% from Monday’s 4.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 41 cents to $83.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $8.80 to $2,155.50.
