Canada: Manufacturing sales fell 1.2% in June vs. -1.7% expected

• Manufacturing sales in Canada fell less than expected in June.
• Loonie capitalized on upbeat reading and rose vs. USD.

According to the monthly data published by Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales in June fell 1.2% to $58 billion following a 1.6% increase in May and came in better than the market expectation for a decline of 1.7%.

The Loonie gathered strength on this reading and the USD/CAD pair erased its daily gains. As of writing, the pair was down 0.05% on the day at 1.3316.

"For the second quarter, manufacturing sales rose 1.7% to $174.5 billion. In volume terms, manufacturing sales increased 1.8% in the second quarter, mostly as a result of higher volumes sold in the petroleum and coal products industry (+6.8%) and transportation equipment (+2.3%) industry," Statistics Canada further elaborated in its press release.