Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Canada's main stock index edged higher Monday on a light trading day as investors awaited critical new U.S. inflation data expected later this week.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 49.04 points at 19,669.17.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 29.07 points at 32,832.54. The S&P 500 index was down 5.13 points at 4,140.06, while the Nasdaq composite was down 13.10 points at 12,644.46.
Inflation, and how far central banks are willing to go to tame it, is still the biggest story influencing financial markets this year. For that reason, Monday was a relatively quiet day in advance of the highly anticipated U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data report, which is expected to be released Wednesday and will show how much inflation rose in the U.S. for the month of July.
Mona Mahajan, senior investment manager with Edward Jones, said she expects the report will show a slight bump in the U.S. core inflation reading, from 5.9 per cent in June to a possible 6.1 per cent for July. Any number that comes in ahead of that would provide potential rationale for the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep up a heightened pace of interest rate increases, while a lower number might soothe markets by indicating that inflation has already peaked.
“I think after this nice rally we've seen in U.S. and Canadian markets, any hint of a disappointing CPI report may be a catalyst to the downside,” Mahajan said. “But on the other end, if we get a nice move downward, it may extend the rally further.”
This week's U.S. inflation data will be coming on the heels of what was a surprisingly hot U.S. jobs report released last week. While Canada actually lost 31,000 jobs in July, the U.S. added 528,000 jobs in the month, more than double the 250,000 economists had expected.
The rapid pace of job growth south of the border is the reason a majority of analysts now expect the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce a 75-basis-point interest rate increase at its September meeting, Mahajan said, likely followed by two additional 25-basis-point increases thereafter.
She said markets no longer expect to see any potential reduction in interest rates until mid-next year, at least.
Commodity prices got a bit of stability Monday after last week's downward slide. In Canada, the mining sector got a boost from higher gold and copper prices as well as strong second-quarter earnings from Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp, which saw its profits for the quarter surge almost 20 per cent since last year.
The December gold contract was up $14 at US$1,805.20 an ounce and the September copper contract was up three cents at US$3.59 a pound.
The September crude contract was up $1.75 cents at US$90.76 per barrel, after falling last week to below $90 per barrel for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
The September natural gas contract was down 48 cents at US$7.59.
Second-quarter earnings continue to roll in this week both north and south of the border. So far, the earnings season has been better than many analysts expected, an indication that inflation hasn't yet had a significant impact on company profits.
But Mahajan pointed out that second-quarter earnings reports are a lagging indicator that don't reflect the full impact of recent central bank hikes.
“Keep in mind that earnings are backward-looking,” Mahajan said. “In Q2, we hadn't really gotten any real quantitative tightening in play yet, and we still saw a bit of softening (in profits) across the board. So we think while earnings have generally held up well, we could see further softening ahead given that lag time impact.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 77.78 cents US compared with 77.32 cents US on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2022.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Golf is a sign of spring and summer and a major driver for seasonal tourism, experts say.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Black youth in Canada face multiple barriers in getting access to mental health services — and health-care providers can make the situation more difficult, experts say.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.