By CountingPips.com
Canadian Retail Sales took market forecasters by surprise today with the report of a decline in July after two straight monthly increases according to the monthly report released by Statistics Canada. Retail sales decreased by 0.6 percent to C$34.2 billion in July following an increase of 1.0 percent in June. On an annual basis, retail sales are 4.9 percent lower than the July 2008 
level. The fall in Retail sales was not expected as economic forecasts were predicting a 0.5 percent increase for the month.
Core retail sales, excluding automobile sales, fell by 0.8 percent in July following a revised gain of 1.1 percent in June. On an annual basis, core sales are down by 4.7 percent compared with July 2008. The monthly decline in core sales also surpassed forecasts expecting to see no change in the core data for July.
Contributing to the slide in the retail sales numbers was a decrease in gasoline station sales by 3.4 percent while the overall automobile sector fell by 1.0 percent. The food and beverages stores sector also contributed to the decline with a 1.5 percent decline. Within this sector, supermarket sales fell 1.6 percent while beer, wine & liquor store sales decreased by 1.4 percent. Furniture, home furnishings & electronic stores also fell by 0.6 percent while clothing & accessories stores decreased by 0.5 percent.
Positively contributing to the monthly retail sales were increases in pharmacies and personal care stores with a 1.1 percent gain and in building & outdoor home supplies stores with a 1.0 percent increase.
US Dollar falls in Currency Trading today.
Today’s currency trading has seen broad based US dollar declines against the major currencies. The dollar has lost ground to the euro, British pound, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Japanese yen at 12:38 pm EDT according currency data by Oanda.
The US stock markets so far are having a positive session today with the Dow Jones gaining by over 50 points, the Nasdaq increasing over 10 points and the S&P 500 showing around an 8 point gain. Oil has traded higher to $71.50 while gold rose by $11.90 to $1015.60 per ounce after noon EDT.
Economic news to be released later today is the New Zealand GDP report for the second quarter. Forecasts are expecting a 0.2 percent decline but there is potential for a surprise to the upside considering yesterday’s surprising current account surplus registered out of New Zealand for the first time since 2003. The GDP release is set for 22:45 GMT.
USD/CAD Chart – The US Dollar falling versus the Canadian Loonie today in forex trading after gaining for the last couple of sessions. The USD/CAD looks to be on the way to establishing new lows for 2009 after reaching its lowest exchange rate last week since September 2008 at the 1.0590 level.
