Today’s release of the Canadian retail sales excluding autos had no surprise and was almost as the forecasted figure. Core Retails sales were expected to show 0.6 per cent increase, and the released data showed 0.5 per cent increase. Compared to the previous month -0.5 per cent number, retail sales have significantly improved in the last month. Therefore the latest data indicate that consumer spending in Canada is improving and there is increased economic activity.
The Canadian dollar strengthened against the US dollar since yesterday noon, approaching almost 1 per cent gains. The USD versus the CAD dropped to the 0.9885 support level and is trading closer to the 6-month lowest limit of 0.9842. However, after the release of the retail sales data the Canadian dollar was unable to maintain gains and started declining against the US dollar, the USDCAD pair bounced up and is now trading at the 0.9914.