Canada: Retail Sales surge by 4.8% in February vs. 4% expected

• Retail Sales in Canada expanded at a stronger pace than expected in February.
• USD/CAD stays relatively quiet around 1.2400 after the data.

Retail Sales in Canada rose by 4.8% on a monthly basis in February, the data published by Statistics Canada revealed on Wednesday. This reading followed January's contraction of 1.1% and came in better than the market expectation for an increase of 4%.

Further details of the publication showed Retail Sales ex Autos were also up 4.8% in the same period.

Market reaction

The USD/CAD pair showed no immediate reaction to this report and was last seen trading flat on the day a little below 1.2300.