National Business

Ottawa plans to make permanent its pandemic-era pause on student loan interest in an effort to reduce some of the current financial pressures on young Canadians as the cost of living rises.

TORONTO — Canada's main stock index crept lower Thursday with mixed results across the indexes, buoyed by energy stocks, industrials and base metals, while U.S. stock markets were also down. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 35.

CALGARY — Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s president Tim McKay added his voice Thursday to the chorus of oilsands executives who in recent days have been pushing back against critics by touting their industry's contributions to the overall economy.

MONTREAL — The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says October home sales in Montreal dropped to a level not seen since 2014.

NEW YORK — Stocks slipped on Wall Street and Treasury yields again rose to multiyear highs a day after the Federal Reserve indicated that its fight against inflation is far from over. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% Thursday.

TORONTO — Toymaker Spin Master Corp.'s revenue and profit slipped in its latest quarter as price sensitive consumers pulled back on spending. The Toronto-based children's entertainment company says it earned US$141.

MONTREAL — Bombardier Inc. says it is prepared for an unstable market ahead as the aircraft manufacturer reported a third-quarter profit compared with a loss a year earlier.

CALGARY — Nutrien Ltd. is sticking to its plan to increase potash production, even as the Saskatoon-based fertilizer giant cut its full-year guidance for 2022 due to slumping potash sales volumes in the second half of this year.

The story of Twitter's blue checkmarks — a simple verification system that's come to be viewed as an elite status symbol — began with some high-profile impersonations, just as the site began taking off in 2008 and '09.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of individuals, firms and vessels connected to an oil smuggling outfit said to benefit the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard.