Canada: Retail Sales rise 0.2% in May vs. 0.5% expected

• Retail Sales in Canada increase at a softer pace than expected in May.
• USD/CAD trades in positive territory above 1.3200 after the data.

Retail Sales in Canada rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in May, Statistics Canada reported on Friday. This reading followed the 1% increase recorded in April (revised from 1.1%) and came in below the market expectation of 0.5%.

Retail Sales ex Autos remained unchanged in the same period, compared to analysts’ estimate for an increase of 0.3%.

Market reaction

USD/CAD edged higher with the initial reaction to this report and was last seen rising 0.25% on the day at 1.3205.