Investing.com - Retail sales in Canada showed a larger-than-expected increase in May, although the core reading unexpectedly declined, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, Statistics Canada said that Canadian, retail sales increased by 0.6% in May, compared to forecasts for a 0.2% gain and after a 0.7% advance in the prior month, that was revised from an initial rise of 0.8%.
However, core retail sales, excluding automobiles, unexpectedly fell by 0.1% in May, after a 1.3% surge in the preceding month which was revised from an initial 1.5% advance.
Analysts had expected Canadian core retail sales to increase by 0.3% in May.
After the report, which was released simultaneous with Canadian inflation data for June, USD/CAD traded at 1.2559, compared to 1.2603 prior to the release.