Fri, 21 May 2010 14:38:00 +0200

Canada: Retail Sales 2.1% increase blows away expectations of 0.2%

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Canada reported an increase of 2.1% in Retail Sales for March, a signficiant increase on a revised 0.8% for February and blowing away analyst expectations of a mild 0.2% increase. This is the 4th consecutive month of increases.

Excluding auto sales, retail sales grew 1.7% on prior month's revised 0% growth, in excess of 0.5% predicted. Growth was driven by sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, which increased 6.6% on the back of strength in the Canadian housing market.

This comes despite news from Canada earlier today that consumer prices rose at 1.8%, the fastest pace since January.

The Retail Sales released by the Statistics Canada is a monthly data that shows all goods sold by retailers based on a sampling of retail stores of different types and sizes. The retail sales index is often taken as an indicator of consumer confidence. It shows the performance of the retail sector in the short term. Generally speaking, the positive economic growth anticipates bullish movements for the CAD.