Canada's main stock index gained on Thursday, after a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation print strengthened market expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
The TSX leaped 346.57 points, or 1.1%, to pause for lunch Thursday at 31,596.59.
The Canadian dollar poked up 0.10 cents to 72.64 cents U.S.
Cannabis stocks will be in focus as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to address the potential loosening of federal regulations on marijuana later in the day.
U.S.-listed shares of Canopy Growth jumped 50 cents, or 18.9%, to $3.15 and Tilray Brands climbed $2.03, or 11.4%, to $19.86.
Orla Mining climbed 45 cents, or 2.4%, to $19.28, after the miner confirmed high-grade gold mineralization extended beyond its current underground operations at Musselwhite Mine.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada said the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 21,200 (+0.1%) in October, largely offsetting a decline of 24,300 (-0.1%) in September.
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 68,300 (+0.4%) in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchanged vaulted 16.36 points, or 1.8%, to 949.82.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, co-led by health-care, up 1.6%, while information technology and real-estate each surged 1.5%.
The two laggards were energy and telecoms, each off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities were on pace to snap a four-day slide on Thursday, boosted by lighter-than-expected inflation data that brightened the outlook for lower interest rates in 2026 and strong earnings from chipmaker Micron Technology.
The Dow Jones Industrials came down from their peaks of the morning, but remained positive 95 points to 47,980.97.
The S&P 500 recovered 53.25 points to 6,774.68.
The NASDAQ popped 314.54 points, or 1.4%, to 23,007.86.
During Thursday’s session, Micron was a standout winner, jumping 11% after the semiconductor play topped Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom lines for the fiscal first quarter and offered a strong revenue forecast for the current period.
Micron helped rekindle the artificial intelligence trade, which has seen weakness in recent sessions.
The delayed November consumer price index report — the first one issued to the public after the U.S. government shutdown ended last month — showed that the headline annual inflation rate was 2.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The 12-month rate for core CPI, which excludes food and energy, was 2.6%. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected the rate for the headline measure and core CPI to come in at 3.1% and 3%, respectively.
The report, which didn’t include month-over-month percent changes, was pushed back from its original release date of Dec. 10. The BLS had canceled the release of the October inflation report in late November as a result of the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown, meaning that Thursday’s reading did not have all the usual data points of a standard CPI report.
The agency said it wasn’t able to retroactively collect the October data, though it was able to use “nonsurvey data sources” to make the index calculations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 4.12% from Wednesday’s 4.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 70 cents to $56.64.
Gold prices removed $18.90 to $4,392.80.
