S&P/TSX composite breaks more records as investor optimism grows

Canada's main stock index achieved another record high close Friday, after also hitting an all-time intraday record thanks to growing investor optimism about future interest rate cuts.

Canada's main stock index achieved another record high close Friday, after also hitting an all-time intraday record thanks to growing investor optimism about future interest rate cuts.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 129.39 points at 22,673.52, after hitting an intraday high of 22,750 earlier in Friday's trading session. The index continued its momentum from Thursday, a day which saw the index gain almost 200 points on the latest report on U.S. inflation.

That report showed a continued cooling in price growth in June, marking the first monthly decline in overall inflation since May 2020. The cooler-than-expected inflation data stoked investor hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting its key interest rate in September -- hopes that remained strong Friday in spite of a fresh update that said U.S. prices rose more at the wholesale level last month than economists expected.

"It was a very good day for the markets. It was a continuation of the optimism that was built yesterday," said Macan Nia, co-chief investment strategist with Manulife Investment Management.

He added investors still riding the high from Thursday's U.S. inflation reading weren't dissuaded by Friday's wholesale data, choosing instead to focus on the big picture.

"One would have maybe thought that would have put a little bit of water on the fire, but I think investors looked past the Producer Price Index and took a bigger step back as generally, the inflation data is moving in the right direction," Nia said.

"There's going to be one-offs in the data points."