The 12-month increase in the Consumer Price Index eased to 2% in August from 2.2% in July. Statistics Canada said August’s 12-month increase was well below the recent peak reached in February and was the lowest since July 2002.

While Canadian consumer prices were a bit lower than expected in August on the headline result, the rise in core prices — excluding volatile energy and food prices — was in line with market expectations.

Excluding energy, the CPI advanced 1.6% from August 2002 to August 2003, after rising 1.8% in July.

Automotive vehicle insurance premiums, as well as natural gas and gasoline prices were primarily responsible for the 12-month increase in the All-items CPI.

Homeowners’ replacement cost, last September’s tuition fees, homeowners’ insurance premiums, and prices for cigarettes and food purchased from restaurants also contributed to the 12-month increase, said StatsCan.

There are no major economic news releases in the U.S. today.

Wall Street index futures are flat this morning, after Asian stock markets edged tentatively higher overnight. Positive earnings news from some major Wall Street firms could help to offset the lingering effects of the U.S. dollar’s slide.

Before the bell, brokerage Lehman Brothers reported that its third-quarter earnings rose to US$1.81 a share, a 147% increase from its profit of US70¢ a share in the same period a year ago.

Morgan Stanley also saw strong results in the quarter, as its per-share profit more than doubled to US$1.15 a share from US55¢ a share a year earlier.

Goldman Sachs had an improved third quarter as well, earning US$1.32 a share, compared with US$1 a share last year.

In Japan, markets were closed for the Autumn Equinox national holiday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 71.09 points to 10,944.36.

European bourses have revived from early losses and are slightly down early in the afternoon.

The FTSE 100 index is off 3.5 points at 4,224, while Frankfurt is off 0.7% and Paris has declined 0.4%.

On Monday, support from gold stocks held the decline in the S&P/TSX composite index to 35.70 points, down to 7,566.51.

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 109.41 points to 9,535.41. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 31.08 points to 1,874.62, while the S&P 500 index was down 13.48 at 1,022.82.