- TSX up 0.1%
- Tech stocks lead gains
March 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was little changed on Tuesday, as losses in materials were offset by gains in technology stocks, while investors assessed a hotter-than-expected inflation reading from the United States.
At 10:22 a.m. ET (14:22 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 15.96 points, or 0.07%, at 21,785.18.
U.S. consumer prices increased in February, a Labor Department report showed, suggesting some stickiness in inflation that could delay an anticipated June interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The yield on the benchmark Canadian bond rose after the U.S. inflation data, and last stood at 3.4%.
Wall Street indexes edged higher in choppy trading after the inflation data.
"Equity markets don't seem that fazed by the disappointing result. They recognize that this is not a great result, but it's not bad enough to completely knock the Fed off track", said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
"There's still the prospect for interest rate cuts (from the Federal Reserve) sometime around the middle part of the year", he added.
The report is in the spotlight as it follows Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony last week where he said that cuts were likely in coming months only if warranted by further evidence of falling inflation.
Rate-sensitive technology stocks rose 0.7%, leading gains on the index, followed by consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks which rose 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.
The materials sector housing Canadian miners lost 0.8%, as spot gold prices fell 1%.
The sector is set to snap its eight-day winning streak if losses hold.
Utilities and real state sectors followed with a fall of 0.8% and 0.1%, respectively.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore
Source: Reuters