GOLD SILVER PRICE NEWS ~ The Toronto stock market seemed headed for a higher open for a third straight day as commodity prices moved higher and investors took in stronger than expected inflation data.
The Canadian dollar rose 1.01 cents against the U.S dollar at 102.77 cents.
Statistics Canada report that the country’s annual inflation rate jumped to the highest level in eight years last month, rising to 3.7 per cent as big increases in gasoline prices pushed the index to a new post-recession peak.On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices rose by a significant 0.7 per cent in May from where they were in April.
The surprisingly strong results present Bank of Canada governors with a dilemma less than three weeks before their meeting to set short-term interest rates for the country.
The bank had warned it expected inflation to push above three per cent during the spring, but few expected it would hit such elevated levels. It has now been above three per cent for three consecutive months.
Investors are also hoping that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will muster enough votes to get the euro28 billion (US$40 billion) austerity bill through Parliament in a vote Wednesday. But the measures are proving unpopular, and Greek unions began striking Tuesday in the hopes of pressuring lawmakers to vote against the package.
If the package fails, Greece will face a default on its debts even though French banks are planning to accept slower repayment of their holdings of Greek bonds.
Commodity traders appeared upbeat about the Greek debt situation and its impact on the global recovery.
Oil for August delivery rose $1.19 to $94.07 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The August gold contract gained $8.70 to 1,508.90, while copper prices rose seven cents to $4.16.
Wall Street also appeared set for a higher open with Dow futures up 49 points to 12,190. Nasdaq futures gained 10.75 points to 2,294.75 and S&P futures were up 6.9 points to 1,301.4.
In corporate news, Niko Resources Ltd. (TSX:NKO), which has recently been the centre of a bribery case with a Bangladeshi government official, fourth-quarter net income tumbled to US$649,000, or 77 cents per share. That’s down from a profit of $38.7 million or 41 cents per share in the same period a year earlier.
Patent specialist Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX:WIN) has acquired 60 U.S. mobile phone patents and foreign counterparts for $8 million from Glenayre Electronics Inc., the Ottawa-based company announced Wednesday.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 1.37 per cent, while France’s CAC-40 rose 1.75 per cent. Germany’s DAX gained 1.71 per cent. Read More
0 comments:
Post a Comment