Canada rocks: retail sales jumped by 1.7% in March, much better than 0.5% expected. Sales excluding autos are up 2%, also far better than 0.5% predicted. Inflation data also shines: 1.2% y/y in the headline number, better than a flat 0% estimated and core inflation rises from 2% to 2.4% y/y. Month over month, rises of 0.6% and 0.7% were reported respectively. Foreign securities purchases beat with 9.27 billion instead of 6 billion expected. It’s impressive beats across the board.
USD/CAD is already below 1.21, a reaction of over 100 pips.
A big bulk of Canadian data was released simultaneously: retail sales, inflation data and foreign securities purchases.
USD/CAD traded around 1.22 just before the publication. At the same time, the US released its inflation data. Core inflation is a tad over predictions and headline is below. This is an OK US report and certainly not awful like we’ve seen beforehand.
The Canadian dollar had an excellent week, jumping mostly on a not-too-dovish central bank as well as the rise of oil prices and the weakness of the US dollar on the back of disappointment after disappointment.
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