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Reuters Canada Business Summary

21/08/08

Inflation at 5-year high, rates seen on hold

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Soaring gasoline prices drove Canada's inflation rate in July to its highest in more than five years, but the upswing was widely expected and did little to change the view that the central bank will keep interest rates on hold in September. The annual inflation rate quickened to 3.4 percent in July from 3.1 percent in June, the highest rate since March 2003, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.

Toronto stocks open higher on rise in oils, metals

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index was sharply higher shortly after the open on Thursday as energy and materials stocks got a boost from strength in their underlying commodities. The S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> was up 125.48 points, or 0.9 percent, at 13,475.12, with half of its 10 main groups higher.

Canada dollar, commodities lifted by weak U.S. unit

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar rose 0.7 percent against a besieged U.S. dollar on Thursday, as worries over the state of the U.S. financial sector triggered a sell-off in the greenback, and gave a boost to commodity prices. Bond prices rose on the back of the U.S. financials, mostly ignoring Canadian inflation data, which came in on the low-end of market expectations.

Biovail names Peggy Mulligan CFO

TORONTO (Reuters) - Biovail Corp , Canada's biggest publicly traded drugmaker, named Peggy Mulligan as its new chief financial officer, replacing Adrian De Saldanha who has held the position on an interim basis. Mulligan, who has extensive experience with several big Canadian companies and financial institutions including The Bank of Nova Scotia , will begin the job on September 3, Biovail said in a statement on Thursday.

U.S. crude futures extend rally, jump $4

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose more than $4 on Thursday as tensions between Russia and the West, concern that Tropical Storm Fay might re-enter the Gulf of Mexico and a weaker dollar combined to lift oil futures. Refined products futures also surged, with heating oil up more than 10 cents.

Retail sales signal slowdown, not recession

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The value of Canadian retail sales climbed 0.5 percent in June due to soaring gasoline prices, but in volume terms sales fell, indicating consumer spending is slowing but not enough to drag the economy into recession. Statistics Canada said on Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.4 percent on the month when the effect of rising prices were stripped out. Excluding auto sales, they jumped by a bigger-than-expected 1.4 percent.

Newfoundland sees new oil era as Hebron proceeds

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The Hebron oil field, Newfoundland's fourth offshore project, will start producing in the next eight to 10 years after Chevron Corp and its partners agreed to formal terms giving Newfoundland a share of the bounty. The deal to go ahead with the C$5 billion to C$7 billion ($4.7 billion to $6.6 billion) project caps years of talks -- and negotiation breakdowns -- over Newfoundland's desire to wrest bigger rewards from North Atlantic oil development.

Canada bank profits to fall from record '07

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's six big banks are expected to report lower quarterly earnings next week thanks to weak capital markets activity, higher loan loss provisions and more writedowns, and already there is concern about next year. Canada's housing market is weakening and consumer spending is slowing, which could threaten the main domestic businesses of the lenders, which largely avoided the U.S. subprime mess.

Buffett, Gates tour Canadian oil sands operation

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, two of the world's richest men, toured Canadian Natural Resources Ltd's Horizon oil sands project near Fort McMurray, Alberta, this week. According to local media reports, Gates and Buffett visited the C$9.3 billion ($8.7 billion) project on Monday. Horizon is slated to begin operations later this year.

U.S. judge approves suit against Bristol-Myers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled in favor of shareholders suing Bristol-Myers Squibb about its disclosures while settling patent litigation with Canadian generic drug maker Apotex Inc over the blood-thinner Plavix. Manhattan federal court Judge Paul Crotty wrote that the shareholders had "plausibly alleged that Bristol Myers' silence with regard to the details of the Apotex settlement made its public statements misleading or false."

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