Canada Stocks-Toronto stocks climb on mining strength; US CPI data in focus

Canada's commodity-heavy stock index opened higher on Wednesday, helped by mining and financial shares, while an in-line U.S. inflation reading kept investors leaning toward a Federal Reserve rate hold.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE was up 0.4% at 36,611.86 points by 10:17 a.m. ET, following Tuesday's record high.

• Heavyweight materials stocks .GSPTTMT gained 1.2%, tracking gains in gold and other precious metals. I-80 Gold Corp IAU.TO, Discovery Mining DSV.TO and Aris Mining ARIS.TO advanced between 3.2% and 4.3%.
• A 0.6% gain in financial stocks .SPTTFS offered additional support.

• Among individual stocks, Air Canada AC.TO surged 12.5% AC.TO, making it the biggest gainer on the index after the airline said it is expecting one of its strongest fall seasons.
• Constellation Software SU.TO was the biggest loser, shedding 6.9% after the firm missed second-quarter revenue estimates. Franco-Nevada FNV.TO also shed 1.9% after the gold royalty firm missed quarterly earnings estimates late on Tuesday.
• A report by the U.S. Labor Department showed the Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% on an annual basis in July, in line with estimates of economists polled by Reuters, keeping investors leaning toward a Federal Reserve rate hold in September.
• The Bank of Canada is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged during its September meeting, data compiled by LSEG showed.
• On Tuesday, Canada's minister in charge of U.S. trade relations, Dominic LeBlanc, met U.S. trade officials, marking his third meeting in as many weeks to try to avert looming tariffs on August 19.
• Shiraz Ahmed, CEO of Sartorial Wealth, said there is general optimism around a U.S.-Iran peace deal, and for Canadian investors specifically, there are renewed hopes of some positive output from the trade negotiations with the U.S.