Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday, led by losses in the resource sectors, while investors were disappointed that core inflation rose more than expected in December ahead of next week’s interest rate decision by the Bank of Canada.
At 10:39 a.m. ET, the TSX/S&P composite index was down 82.00 points, or 0.39%, at 20,979.45 after falling as low as 20,842.98 earlier in the trading day.
Energy shares were the top losers on the index, falling 1.7%, while materials were down 1.4% as prices of most base metals dropped on a stronger U.S. dollar and concerns over future demand after top consumer China skipped an expected rate cut.
Data on Tuesday showed Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.4% in Dec. from 3.1% in Nov., driven mainly by higher gasoline prices last month.
While the headline numbers were in line with expectations, the sticky core measures show that overall inflation is likely to come down slowly.
“CPI has come…
