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Brookfield Reinsurance to acquire Argo Group in $1.1 bln
deal
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BOC policy meeting minutes awaited
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S&P/TSX composite index flat
By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan Feb 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was nearly flat on Wednesday, with gains in industrial stocks offsetting losses in healthcare shares, ahead of the release of minutes from the Bank of Canada's (BoC) latest policy meeting.
At 9:57 a.m. ET (1457 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index was up 12.27 points, or 0.06%,
at 20,737.27.
The BoC will release at 1:30 p.m. ET the minutes from its
January policy meeting, where it raised interest rates by 25
basis points but said it would hold off on further moves to let
the impact of past increases sink in.
"Investors are starting to anticipate that rates will no
longer rise or maybe even get cut. But the Federal Reserve and
the Bank of Canada are very concerned that if they lower rates
too quickly, they'll end up stoking a second round of
inflation," said Scott Blair, chief investment officer at CWB
Wealth.
"So all year, investors are going to be oscillating between
hope that rates start to fall and reality that they may stay
higher for longer."
Following a key recommendation from the International
Monetary Fund, the BoC agreed to release the "Summary of
Deliberations", similar to meeting minutes released by other
central banks.
The industrials sector gained 0.6%, while the
energy sector rose 0.4% as crude prices rose for a
third straight day. In company news, financial services firm Brookfield Asset
Management rose 3.3% after the company's reinsurance
unit said it would acquire insurer Argo Group International
Holdings in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.
Titan Medical Inc plunged 63.6% as the medical
device maker said it will prioritize the sale of all or some of
its assets, and remains open to other cost-cutting measures.
(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan in
Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
