Updates with market opening prices
By Ragini Mathur
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, dragged by technology stocks, after a key U.S. inflation report slashed expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.
The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 0.46% at 25,514.73.
U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in January, reinforcing the Fed's message that it was in no rush to resume cutting interest rates amid growing uncertainty over the economy.
"Inflation is not behaving in a way that suggests the Fed will cut rates and that is incrementally bad news for the markets for now," said Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones Investments.
U.S. inflation remains above the 2% target, reducing the likelihood of a rate cut this year amid concerns over the impact of Trump administration's trade policies.
"But the good news is that it doesn't necessarily change the broader narrative to pivot the conversation from a pause to rate hikes," Kourkafas said.
Traders are now fully pricing in just one 25 basis point rate reduction this year. Before Wednesday's inflation number, they saw an about 40% chance of another similar-sized move, as per data compiled by LSEG.
On TSX, information technology .SPTTTK shares lost the most, down 1.6%, dragged by a 3.6% fall in e-commerce firm Shopify SHOP.TO.
Real estate .GSPTTRE fell 0.6% as Canada's 10-year benchmark CA10YT=RR yield rose to 3.171% in the day, tracking its U.S. counterpart after the inflation data.
Bucking the trend, materials .GSPTTMT added 0.4%, helped by a 5.6% jump for Barrick Gold ABX.TO after the mining company announced a new $1 billion share buyback program and beat analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday.
Among other stocks, TerraVest Industries TVK.TO fell by over 12.4% after the home-heating products maker missed its fourth-quarter revenue estimates, pushing it to the bottom of the TSX.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
((Ragini.Mathur@thomsonreuters.com;))
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.