|

Canadian manufacturing sales plunged further than anticipated in July – NFB

Data released today showed that Canadian manufacturing sales fell again in July. National Bank of Canada analysts point out that real inventory-to-sales ratio reached its highest level since the recession, which does not point to a significant rebound in production in the coming months.

Key Quotes:

“Manufacturing shipments fell 1.3% in July to C$57.2 billion, much worse than the -0.1% print expected by consensus. That result followed a 1.4% decline in the prior month.”

“The unadjusted capacity utilization rate in Canada’s manufacturing sector slipped 4.0 percentage points to 77.3%.”

“This deterioration in the headline number comes on the back of a poor showing in June. Specifically, sales fell in the primary metals industry following an outsized increase in the prior month.”

“Real shipments dropped a significant 1.6% in the month and mark a fourth decline in the first seven months of the year. Notwithstanding the increase in inventories in July, the manufacturing sales data should detract from July GDP. The dichotomy between shipments and inventories has only gotten wider in this latest report.”

Author

Matías Salord

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

More from Matías Salord
Share:

Editor's Picks

AUD/USD flirts with 0.7000, lowest since early August amid bullish USD

AUD/USD hits a fresh low since early August during the Asian session on Friday and looks vulnerable near 0.7000 after breaking below the 200-day SMA overnight. Against the backdrop of the hawkish Fed, a two-day rally in oil prices revives inflation fears and continues to push US bond yields to multi-year highs. Adding to this, geopolitical risks lift the US Dollar to a two-month high, overshadowing RBA rate hike bets and weighing on the pair.

USD/JPY pulls back from three-week high after failing near 159.00

USD/JPY edges lower during the Asian session on Friday, stalling its recent strong move to a three-week high of 159.00 as Japanese Yen bears turn cautious amid intervention fears. Meanwhile, the US Dollar retains a strong bullish undertone as the Fed's hawkish outlook and oil-driven inflation fears continue to push US bond yields to multi-year peaks. Furthermore, the BoJ's dovish rate hike last week might cap JPY and support spot prices.

Gold treads water below $4,300

Gold grabs some buying attention and advances marginally at the end of the week, partially retracing the weekly decline, although it is still navigating below the key $4,300 mark per troy ounce. The fresh selling bias on the Greenback and the modest decline in US Treasury yields appear to support the humble advance in the precious metal.

Week ahead: Rate hike bets face a crucial data week
Despite the solid drop from the mid-September high, oil prices remained in the driver’s seat for another week, setting the tone in financial markets. Six months have passed since the late-February start of the US-Iran conflict, and there is still no breakthrough in the stalled talks, despite pressure from regional leaders and the rest of the world.
CFTC Report: Defensive currency positioning takes hold
The week in one sentence: Sterling and Euro shorts deepened in the week to September 22, while Yen longs were cut sharply. Oil positioning improved despite a steep price decline, and Gold exposure remained crowded. The main signal was a more defensive currency positioning backdrop.
Fed vs BoJ: Both hiked. The market only believes one of them – and the chart shows which

The Fed and the BoJ have just done something remarkably similar. Both central banks raised interest rates by 25 bps last week, both are confronting inflation risks, and both signal that future decisions will depend on incoming economic data.