By CountingPips.com
Canadian Retail Sales increased by more than expected in May according to the monthly report released by Statistics Canada today. Retail sales increased by 1.2 percent to C$34.0 billion in May following a decrease of 0.6 percent in April. Retail sales had increased for three straight months prior to April’s decline. The rise in May was more than double the expectations as economic forecasts were predicting a 0.5 percent increase for the month.
Core retail sales, excluding automobile sales, rose by 0.7 percent in May following a decline of 0.5 percent in April. The decline in core sales also surpassed forecasts expecting a 0.5 percent decline.
Contributing to the gain in the retail sales numbers was an increase in the automotive sector by 2.4 percent. Within that sector gasoline station sales increased by 0.9 percent for the month while new car dealers sales gained by 3.4 percent. The food and beverages stores sector saw a 0.7 percent increase while furniture, home furnishings & electronic store sales grew by 0.5 percent and miscellaneous retailer stores increased by 0.8 percent. Also contributing positively to the monthly retail sales were increases in pharmacies & personal care stores, general merchandise stores and in building & outdoor home supplies stores.
Canadian Loonie rises in Currency Trading.
The Canadian loonie dollar has been stronger today in the currency markets versus the major currencies after the higher retail sales data. The Canadian currency has increased versus the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, U.S. dollar and Australian dollar while falling against the New Zealand dollar.
The U.S. dollar has declined today against the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD pair trades at the 1.0964 in the afternoon of the US session at 12:46pm EST. The USD/CAD opened the day trading at 1.1054 at 00:00GMT according to currency data by Oanda.
The euro has decreased against the loonie as the EUR/CAD trades at the 1.5614 level after opening the day at 1.5692. The loonie has advanced versus the Japanese yen as the CAD/JPY trades at the rate of 85.44 yen per loonie level after opening the day at 84.69.
The British pound has fallen versus the loonie today as the GBP/CAD trades at the 1.8060 level after opening the day at 1.8135.
The Australian dollar has also lost ground today versus the Canadian currency as the AUD/CAD trades at 0.8979 after opening at 0.9020 while the New Zealand dollar has gained slightly versus the CAD. The NZD/CAD trades at 0.7256 after opening the day at 0.7247.
USD/CAD Chart – The US Dollar falling versus the Canadian Dollar today in Currency Trading and dipping under the 1.1000 exchange rate again today.
