National Business

TORONTO — Strength in technology and utility stocks helped Canada's main stock index inch higher Wednesday, while U.S. stock markets rallied to new record highs after a pair of reports on inflation and retail sales.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied to records on hopes that inflation is heading back in the right direction. The S&P 500 jumped 1.2% Wednesday to top its prior all-time high set in March. The Nasdaq composite added 1.

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into surrounding waters and closing the only road to a smaller and separate island that is home to a university, officials said.

Toronto Hydro says power has been restored after a large outage caused by a squirrel impacted thousands of people in the downtown area. The company’s outage map showed the disruption started at 10:23 a.m.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.

MONTREAL — AtkinsRéalis enjoyed a thriving nuclear business in its latest quarter, as the engineering firm looks to build on a gradual global transition away from fossil fuels.

OTTAWA — Manufacturing sales fell 2.1 per cent to $69.9 billion in March as sales of petroleum and coal products and motor vehicles fell, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes changing hands in April fell from the previous month despite an influx of new listings hitting the market. On a month-over-month basis, CREA said home sales in April were down 1.

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in April edged down one per cent compared with March.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Led by lower food and auto prices, inflation in the United States cooled slightly last month after three elevated readings, likely offering a tentative sigh of relief for officials at the Federal Reserve as well as President Joe Bid