Canadian Market Modestly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is modestly higher Wednesday afternoon with stocks turning in a mixed performance as investors react to U.S. consumer price inflation data and assessing the likely interest-rate path of the Federal Reserve.

Consumer staples, consumer discretionary and utilities shares are among the prominent gainers. Energy and materials shares are weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 36.15 points or 0.18% at 20,259.23.

Consumer staples stock North West Company (NWC.TO) is soaring 15.3%. Metro Inc (MRU.TO), Empire Company (EMP.A.TO), Jamieson Wellness (JWEL.TO) and Weston George (WN.TO) are up 1 to 1.8%.

Dollarama (DOL.TO), up 5.4%, is the top gainer in the Consumer Discretionary index. The company reported second-quarter earnings of C$245.8 million or C$0.86 per share, up from C$193.5 million or C$0.66 per share last year.

Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Park Lawn Corp (PLC.TO) are up 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.

Energy stocks Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) and Parex Resources (PXT.TO) are down 5% and 4.7%, respectively. Secure Energy (SES.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) are declining 1.6 to 2.5%.

In the materials sector, Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Dundee Precious Metals (DPM.TO) are down 5.5% and 4.6%, respectively. Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Centerra Gold Inc (CG.TO), Ccl Industries (CCL.B.TO) and K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO) are lower by 2 to 3%.

Data from the Labor Department showed the consumer price index climbed by 0.6% in August after inching up by 0.2% in July. The price growth matched expectations.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.3% in August after edging up by 0.2% in July. Economists had expected another 0.2% uptick.

The Labor Department also said the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 3.7% in August from 3.2% in July. The annual rate of growth was expected to accelerate to 3.6%.

Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices slowed to 4.3% in August from 4.7% in July, in line with economist estimates.