Canada's Inflation Rate Slows, Weakening Case For A July Rate Hike  

• Canada's annual inflation rate came in at 3.4% for May, its slowest pace in two years, data showed on Tuesday, weakening the case for another hike next month. The annual rate is the slowest since June 2021 and broadly in line with the Bank of Canada's expectation that inflation would cool to around 3% by mid-2023.
• The central bank hiked its overnight rate to a 22-year high of 4.75% earlier in June after a series of surprisingly strong data, including an unexpected uptick in April inflation, which showed that the economy was running hotter than anticipated.
• After the last rate increase, the Bank of Canada said it would be gauging economic data to decide whether to keep raising borrowing costs. "With the labour market also loosening in May, the case for another rate hike in July is not quite as strong as it seemed a few weeks ago," said Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

(Source: Reuters)