Investing.com - Retail sales in Canada fell more than expected in March, while those excluding automobiles registered a lesser decline than forecast, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, Statistics Canada said that Canadian, retail sales fell 1.0% in March, compared to the 0.3% advance in the prior month and the market forecast for a 0.6% decline.
Core retail sales, excluding automobiles, decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.3%, from a 0.3% gain the preceding month whose figure was revised up from a 0.4% drop.
Analysts had expected Canadian core retail sales to fall -0.4% in March.
After the report, which was released simultaneously with Canadian consumer price index for April, USD/CAD traded at 1.3114, compared to 1.3098 prior to the release.