Canada's annual inflation rate reportedly held steady at 6.9% in October, matching analysts' forecasts, as higher gasoline prices and mortgage interest costs offset a slight decline in food prices, Statistics Canada data reported on Wednesday.
The consumer price index rose 0.7% month-on-month, again matching analysts' forecasts. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 5.3% year-on-year in October compared with a 5.4% gain in September.
Gasoline prices rose higher in October than in September, after OPEC+ countries announced future oil production cuts and on a weaker Canadian dollar. Meanwhile food prices slipped slightly from four-decade highs.
The Bank of Canada has raised its benchmark rate by 350 basis points since March to 3.75%, one of the fastest tightening cycles ever. The market expects a 25 basis point hike in December, with about a 35% chance of a bigger hike.
Higher interest rates have boosted borrowing rates in the Mortgage Interest Cost Index, Statistics Canada reports. In October, annual mortgage interest costs rose by 11.4%, the biggest jump since February 1991.
The central bank's core measures of inflation, CPI-median and CPI-trim, both rose by an average of two at 5.1% compared to 5.0% in September. CPI-common has become less reliable due to major revisions, the bank said last month.
The Canadian dollar traded 0.2% higher at 1.3253 to the US dollar, or 75.45 U.S. cents.
