-- The Toronto Stock Exchange is down 27 points at midday as Middle East peace prospects grow fainter.
Miners, down 0.5%, is the worst performer, as precious metals prices decline.
Healthcare and energy, up 2% and 0.9% are the best performers.
On the economic front, all eyes were on the release of Canadian CPI for March.
CIBC noted the 2.4% headline reading, driven by a 0.9% not seasonally adjusted m/m increase (0.5% after seasonal adjustment), was actually slightly below the consensus expectation (2.6%) but still a sharp acceleration from 1.8% in the prior month.
"Everyone knew that inflation jumped in March due to higher gasoline prices, the only question remaining was how high?," CIBC said. "As it turned out," the bank added, "the jump in headline inflation wasn't quite as high as expected, and core measures continued to show little sign of inflationary pressure outside of the surge in fuel prices. Pass-through from higher energy prices into core measures of inflation may become more evident closer to the summer months, particularly in areas such as air fares, but slack within the Canadian economy should prevent those measures from reaccelerating too much, enabling the Bank of Canada to remain on the sidelines through 2026."
For RBC the bottom line is that while some components, particularly grocery prices and rent, are still running well above year-ago levels, the March report reinforces its view that recent increases in oil prices can push headline inflation higher in the near term but are unlikely to re-ignite broader inflation pressures. RBC said the BoC will keep a close eye on inflation expectations, but added slower core price growth measures leave the central bank flexibility to also keep an eye on what is still a soft economic backdrop with the unemployment rate still elevated.
In stocks, Rupert Resources (RUP.TO) jumped 65% to an all-time high of $11.86, after it announced that it was being acquired by Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) in a deal that values the company at $2.9 billion.