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Stock indexes in Canada and the U.S. rose, with the S&P/TSX Composite hitting its highest level in a week after fresh U.S. inflation data raised hopes that the Federal Reserve would reduce its aggressive rate hikes.

The S&P/TSX composite index on the Toronto Stock Exchange rose 307.66 points, or 1.54%, to 20,327.36 at 9:31 a.m. ET.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 555.64 points, or 1.65%, at 34,546.65. The S&P 500 opened up 78.82 points, or 1.98%, at 4,069.38, while the Nasdaq Composite opened 399.10 points, or 3.58%, at 11,542.84.

November, annual inflation rate In the U.S., it was 7.1%, down from 7.7% a month earlier. Economists have been predicting an easing in price pressures, although most expect the November figure to be closer to 7.3%. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 0.1%. The market had been looking for a gain of around 0.3%.

The reading came as Fed members begin a two-day meeting that will feature the central bank’s interest rate decision Wednesday afternoon. The market expects a 0.5 percentage point rate hike after successive hikes of 75 basis points.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said: “Today’s CPI data confirms that ultra-hawkish bets are now over and traders are more focused on dovish hawkish bets.”

“All in all, Santa Claus delivered a good enough package to the Fed, and the Fed can now celebrate Christmas with more peace knowing that inflation is heading in the direction they want, with ample tailwinds behind it.”

Tuesday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades

In the US, competition courts will hold final arguments in hearings on Rogers Communications’ proposed $26 billion takeover of Shaw Communications.

The Globe’s Alexandra Posadzki reports on written arguments between the two sides in the competition court battle was made public Friday, about a week after the evidentiary portion of the hearing concluded.The Competition Bureau, led by Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell, asked the court to block transaction completely The rationale is that it would raise wireless prices in Alberta and British Columbia. Rogers and Shaw and the intervening party, Videotron Ltd., argued that the deal was pro-competitive and asked the tribunal to dismiss Mr. Boswell’s application.

Overseas, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.61 midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.28%. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.70% and 0.61%, respectively.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.40%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.68% after Chief Executive John Lee announced the continued easing of measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

commodity

Crude prices rose in early trade as the ongoing shutdown of TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline raised supply concerns

Brent was trading in an intraday range of $78.10 to $79.60 before the morning trade. WTI was in a range of $73.29 to $74.54.

Keystone was closed last week after crude oil flowed into a creek in Kansas. TC Energy Corp said it had cleaned nearly 2,600 barrels of oil from the spill, but a timeline for restarting the pipeline remained unclear.

Keystone transports 620,000 barrels of Canadian crude oil per day from Alberta to the United States.

“Even in what appears to be an oversupply environment, that’s a lot of support for prices,” said Craig Erlam, senior analyst at OANDA.

“Suddenly, the upside risks appear to outweigh the downside risks, which could send prices below $70 for the foreseeable future.”

Later in the day, traders will get the first of two weekly reports on U.S. inventories as new data from the American Petroleum Institute is released. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is due to release more official data on Wednesday morning.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast crude stockpiles falling by about 3.9 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 9.

Elsewhere in commodities, gold prices traded in a tight range ahead of this week’s Fed decision.

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,783.16 an ounce as of early Tuesday. U.S. gold futures inched up 0.1% to $1,793.90.

currency

The Canadian dollar rose after the latest U.S. inflation data, while the U.S. dollar fell against a group of world currencies.

The Canadian dollar’s intraday range was 73.28 cents US to 73.96 cents US. The loonie was near the upper end of that spread just before the North American open.

There were no important Canadian economic data releases on Tuesday. The Globe’s Mark Rendell reports that Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said in his end-of-year speech on monday It indicates that the central bank has entered a new stage of monetary policy. After seven consecutive interest rate hikes, bank Has shifted from asking how much the next rate hike will be to asking if it will be raised interest rate fundamental. That could mean a pause in rate hikes as early as January.

In world markets, the dollar index , which measures the greenback against a group of currencies, fell more than 1% to 103.75 after new data showed annual inflation fell to 7.1% in November, below market expectations.

Earlier, sterling was flat at $1.2272 ahead of the Bank of England’s policy decision on Thursday. It touched a near six-month high of $1.2345 last week.

The euro was also steady at $1.0539. The European Central Bank will release its next interest rate decision on Thursday.

More company news

golden fields co., ltd. Its chief executive, Chris Griffiths, said on Tuesday will step down His role will take effect on Dec. 31, a month after the South African gold miner bid for Canada yamana gold corp. fall down. Some analysts had predicted that Mr. Griffith would not survive the failed bid, which saw Gold Fields receive a $300 million termination fee from the Canadian precious metals producer. Gold Fields’ two largest shareholders, Red Wheel Capital and VanEck, have publicly opposed the deal. –Reuters

Oracle Corporation Strong demand for its cloud software business drove better-than-expected quarterly revenue as the company shifted to a hybrid work model. The software company’s total revenue rose 18.5 percent to $12.28 billion in the second quarter, compared with a Refinitiv consensus estimate of $12.05 billion, according to 19 analysts. The results were announced after the market close on Monday. Shares were up more than 3% in early trading. -Reuters

Eli Lilly It said Tuesday it expects adjusted profit in 2023 to be between $8.10 and $8.30 a share. Adjusted profit expectations were below analysts’ average estimate of $9.15 a share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

united airlines Tuesday said to order 100 Boeing The 787 Dreamliner and 100 737 MAX planes are important orders for the airline as it fuels post-pandemic growth and replaces older, less efficient planes. The Chicago-based airline has ordered 200 planes with a price tag of about $43 billion, a huge boost for the U.S. planemaker, which faces political and production challenges for both jets this year. question. –Reuters

economic news

(8:30AM ET) US November CPI.

Also: The Fed meeting begins.

Reuters and Canadian media