(RTTNews) - After struggling for support till around noon, Canadian stocks climbed higher and lifted the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index to a near 2-week high on Wednesday. The mood in the market turned a bit bullish amid easing concerns about inflation in the U.S.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 208.08 points or 0.9% at 23,211.17.
Consumer discretionary and technology stocks posted strong gains, contributing substantially to market's rise. Several stocks from industrials, healthcare, financials and utilities sectors too closed on a firm note.
The Consumer Discretionary Capped Index climbed 3.67%. Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) rallied 8.2%. Dollarama reported Wednesday that net earnings for the second quarter increased to $285.94 million or $1.02 per share from $245.76 million or $0.86 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Brp Inc (DOO.TO) and Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) gained 4.6% and 3.25%, respectively. Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) gained 2.2%, while Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO), Canadian Tire Corp (CTC.A.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) and Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) ended higher by 1.2 to 1.7%.
The Information Technology Capped Index gained 1.59%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) climbed 4.65% and Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) ended nearly 4% up. Quarterhill (QTRH.TO), Computer Modelling (CMG.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Sylogist (SYZ.TO) gained 1 to 3.2%.
Among other major gainers, First Majestic Silver Corp (AG.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) jumped 7.5% and 6.6%, respectively. Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO) climbed 5.8%. TFI International (TFII.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), TerraVest Industries (TVK.TO) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO) closed higher by 2 to 2.6%. Cargojet (CJT.TO) ended nearly 2% up.
Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. consumer price index rose by 0.2% in August, matching the uptick seen in July as well as economist estimates.
However, core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, climbed by 0.3% in August after rising by 0.2% in July. Economists had expected core prices to rise by another 0.2%.
The Federal Reserve is still likely to lower interest rates next week, but the bigger than expected increase by core consumer prices is seen as reducing the chances the central bank lowers rates by 50 basis points.
Following the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 83% chance of a quarter point rate cut and just a 17% percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
