The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that North American stocks ended with strong gains on Wednesday, with Toronto at its highest closing level in a week, after U.S. consumer prices registered their smallest annual increase in more than two years. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that the data underscored expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may let interest rates stand after one more 25-basis-point increase expected at its July policy meeting. The report also sent bond yields sharply lower, including in Canada, even as the nation's central bank increased its key lending rate by another 25 basis points. The Canadian two-year bond yield was down 13.7 basis points at 4.668 per cent. Toronto's materials sector led sector gainers. Shares of big-tech-related companies, which tend to be sensitive to higher interest rates, gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost. The technology sector was up 1.3 per cent. In the 12 months through June, the CPI advanced 3.0 per cent. That was the smallest year-on-year increase since March, 2021. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up nearly 1 per cent, at 20,070.77. Aritzia tumbled 23.9 per cent after the clothing retailer posted dismal quarterly earnings.