Canadian Retail Sales decreased sharply and fell by the most in over fifteen years in December according to the monthly report released by Statistics Canada today. Retail sales decreased by 5.4 percent to C$33.0 billion in December following a decrease of 2.4 percent in November. The decline in
Contributing to the slide in the retail sales numbers was a decrease in the automotive industry as sales fell by 12.7 percent in December. Sales at gasoline stations decreased in December by 11.7 percent while sales at new car dealerships fell by 15.1 percent and marked its largest monthly drop since January of 1998. Also contributing to the downward slide in sales were decreases in building and outdoor home supply stores(-5.6%), clothing and accessories stores(3.7%) and furniture, home furnishings & electronics stores(-2.6%).
Canadian dollar mixed in currency trading.
The Canadian dollar has been mixed today in the currency markets against most of the major currencies. Today, the US dollar has gained ground versus the Canadian loonie dollar from today’s opening exchange rate of 1.2444 to trading at 1.2502 this afternoon in the US trading session at 4:19pm ET.
The euro has fallen versus the loonie in trading today as the EUR/CAD currency pair has declined from 1.6057 to trading at 1.5877. The loonie has gained ground against the Japanese yen as the CAD/JPY has advanced from 74.70 yen per loonie to trading at approximately 75.63. The Australian dollar has lost ground to the loonie as the AUD/CAD has fallen from 0.8079 to trading at 0.8024 today. The New Zealand dollar has also declined against the Canadian dollar as the NZD/CAD fell from its 0.6382 opening to trading later in the day at the 0.6347 exchange rate.
CAD/JPY Chart -The Canadian loonie advancing versus the Japanese Yen today in currency trading despite a dismal retail sales report released today.
