Canadian Dollar Off Lows On Retail Sales Data

09:27, 22nd August 2014

(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar wiped out its post-CPI losses against the other major currencies in European deals on Friday, as retail sales grew better-than-expected in June.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that Canada's retail sales rose for the sixth consecutive month, up 1.1 percent to C$42.6 billion in June. The reading was higher than forecasts of 0.3 percent, after advancing 0.7 percent last month.

Meanwhile, CPI rose 2.1 percent on year in July, following a 2.4 percent increase in June, separate data showed. This is down from the 2.2 percent rise expected by the economists.

The CPI declined by 0.2 percent on month, worser than expectations for a 0.1 percent decline. The index rose 0.1 percent a month earlier.

Core CPI came in at 0.1 percent in July on a monthly basis, matching consensus.

The loonie that declined to 1.4565 against the euro snapped back immediately with pair trading at 1.4528. The loonie is thus heading to violate its early 3-week high of 1.4521.

Having fallen to 1.0979 against the U.S. dollar in the aftermath of the CPI release, the loonie reversed direction and was trading at 1.0946. Further uptrend may help the loonie to pierce a 3-day high of 1.0927 set in early deals.

The loonie recovered from its early losses against the yen, trading at 94.72, up from an early 2-day low of 94.44. The loonie is thus not far from its Asian session's 6-week high of 94.95.

The loonie rose back to 1.0193 against the aussie, after falling to 1.0219 a short while ago. Further gains may lead the loonie to a resistance around the 1.01 region.