Canada: Retail sales rise 1.1% in March vs 1% expected, USD/CAD drops to monthly lows

The data published by Statistics Canada today revealed that retail sales in March rose by 1.1% on a monthly basis in March to beat the market expectation of 1%. Furthermore, sales excluding autos rose 1.7%  to surpass the analysts' estimate of 0.9% by a wide margin.

The initial market reaction allowed the loonie to gather strength and dragged the USD/CAD pair to a monthly low of 1.3360.

"For the first quarter, retail sales edged up 0.1% following a 0.5% decrease in the fourth quarter. In volume terms, retail sales edged down 0.1% in the first quarter," the publication read.