By CountingPips.com
Canadian Retail Sales decreased in April after three straight monthly increases according to the monthly report released by Statistics Canada today. Retail sales decreased by 0.8 percent to C$33.5 billion in April following an increase of 0.3 percent in March. The fall in Retail sales was more than expected as economic forecasts were predicting a 0.1 percent increase for the month.
Core retail sales, excluding automobile sales, fell by 0.5 percent in April following a decline of 0.3 percent in March. The decline in core sales also surpassed forecasts expecting a 0.1 percent decline.
Contributing to the slide in the retail sales numbers was a decrease in the automotive sector by 1.9 percent. Within that sector gasoline station sales fell by 1.9 percent for the month while new car dealers sales declined by 1.8 percent. The food and beverages stores sector saw a 1.0 percent decline while furniture, home furnishings & electronic stores fell by 0.8 percent and clothing & accessories stores decreased by 0.6 percent. Positively contributing to the monthly retail sales were increases in miscellaneous retailers stores, general merchandise stores and in building & outdoor home supplies stores.
Canadian Loonie falls in Currency Trading.
The Canadian loonie dollar has been weaker today in the currency markets versus the major currencies after the lower retail sales data. The Canadian currency has decreased versus the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, U.S. dollar, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar.
The U.S. dollar has advanced today against the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD pair trades at the 1.1343 in the afternoon of the US session at 3:09pm EST. The USD/CAD opened the day trading at 1.1316 at 00:00GMT according to currency data by Oanda.
The euro has increased against the loonie as the EUR/CAD trades at the 1.5828 level after opening the day at 1.5751. The loonie has declined versus the Japanese yen as the CAD/JPY trades at the rate of 84.78 yen per loonie level after opening the day at 85.35.
The British pound has jumped versus the loonie today as the GBP/CAD trades at the 1.8724 level after opening the day at 1.8488.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars have also gained ground today versus the Canadian currency as the AUD/CAD trades at 0.9140 after opening at 0.9058 while the NZD/CAD trades at 0.7301 after opening the day at 0.7231.
GBP/CAD Chart – The British Pound gaining versus the Canadian Dollar today in Currency Trading and reaching the highest exchange rate since December.
