Canadian Stocks Climb Off Early Lows But Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure early in the session, Canadian stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday but still ended the day mostly lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 97.33 points or 0.5 percent to 21,642.87 after slumping as much as 0.9 percent in early trading and hitting its lowest intraday level over a month.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index still extended its recent losing streak to five sessions after hitting a record closing high last Tuesday.

The early weakness on Bay Street came amid ongoing worries about the outlook for interest rates on both sides of the border.

Before the start of trading, Statistics Canada released a report showing the annual rate of consumer price growth crept up to 2.9 percent in March from 2.8 percent in February.

The slightly faster year-over-year growth came as gasoline prices rose faster in March compared with February.

Excluding gasoline, the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to a 2.8 percent in March from 2.9 percent in February.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said later in the day that the data suggests underlying inflationary pressures are continuing to ease and the Canadian economy is moving in the right direction.

Macklem remarks came during a moderate discussion with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who indicated U.S. interest rates are likely to remain higher for longer amid a "lack of progress" toward reaching the central bank's inflation goal.

Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks saw considerable weakness on the day, while technology stocks showed a strong move to the upside.