National Business

TORONTO — CIBC's chief executive offered an impassioned defence of Canada's banking sector the day after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made a campaign pledge to raise the tax rate for the industry.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The coronavirus vaccine gave the live entertainment industry hope for a rebound in 2021. Now, as COVID-19 cases surge and hospital beds fill up, it feels like March 2020 all over again.

TORONTO — Cannabis retailer Fire and Flower Holdings Corp. has signed a deal to buy the company behind the PotGuide cannabis website for US$8.5 million in cash and shares.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a robust 6.6% annual rate last quarter, slightly faster than previously estimated, the government said Thursday in a report that pointed to a sustained consumer-led rebound from the pandemic recession.

The neon rainbow playground ball is a top seller. Pop fidget pencil cases and journals sold out coast-to-coast in three weeks. Backpacks with dinosaur and mermaid prints are flying off the shelves.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the first time in five weeks even though the economy and job market have been recovering briskly from the coronavirus pandemic.

TORONTO — Canada has ended evacuations from Kabul’s airport, a Canadian general said Thursday, as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (20,587.32, up 39.56 points.) Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down one cent, or 0.04 per cent, to $23.54 on 19.4 million shares.

TORONTO — North American equity markets rose higher Thursday, as Canada's main stock index, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all extended a run of fresh highs.

MONTREAL — National Bank of Canada says no-commission trading at its direct brokerage was years in the works as part of an effort to increase its client base. "This is not a brain cramp that happened this summer.