Canada: Retail Sales decline by 1.4% in March as expected
|- Retail Sales in Canada fell in line with expectations.
- Preliminary data points to a 0.2% increase in April.
- USD/CAD stays in a minor range around 1.3480.
The data published by Statistics Canada showed on Friday that Retail Sales declined in March by 1.4% on a monthly basis following February's 0.2% decrease. This reading came as expected.
Further details of the publication revealed that Retail Sales ex-Autos fell by 0.3% in the same period, less than the 0.8% decline expected.
Key takeaways from the report:
Retail sales decreased 1.4% to $65.3 billion in March. Sales decreased in 5 of the 9 subsectors, representing 55.5% of retail trade, led by decreases at motor vehicle and parts dealers (-4.4%) and gasoline stations and fuel vendors (-3.9%).
Core retail sales—which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers—increased 0.3% in March.
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers fall for the first time in eight months
“Statistics Canada is providing an advance estimate of retail sales, which suggests that sales increased 0.2% in April. Owing to its early nature, this figure will be revised.”
Market reaction
This report doesn't seem to be having an impact on the Canadian Dollar's valuation. As of writing, USD/CAD continued to trade around 1.3475, down 20 pips for the day.
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