The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Canada's main stock index ended slightly higher on Monday as data showed the rate of inflation increasing less than expected, with gains for energy and technology offsetting declines for metal mining shares. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 13.74 points at 34,289.88, edging closer to the record closing high it posted on March 2. Canada's annual inflation rate rose to 2.4 per cent in March from 1.8 per cent in February as higher crude oil costs drove up gasoline prices, but the rate was below the 2.6 per cent level that analysts had forecast. Investors have worried that hotter inflation owing to the oil-price shock would lead the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates this year. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Monday, with each of the three major indexes coming off a third straight week of gains, as renewed U.S.-Iran tensions put the durability of a two-week ceasefire in question. U.S. crude jumped 6.87 per cent to settle at $89.61 a barrel and Brent rose to settle at $95.48 a barrel, up 5.64 per cent on the day, lifting the S&P 500 energy index 0.21 per cent. The Dow was flat, down just 4.87 points.