Canada’s dollar erased an earlier advance against its U.S. counterpart after a government report showed July retail sales unexpectedly fell, calling into question the strength of the economic recovery. The currency earlier advanced by 0.7 percent as the greenback slid against most major counterparts after Federal Reserve policy makers said yesterday it “will provide additional accommodation if needed” to spur growth, prompting speculation the stance will crimp demand for U.S. assets. “The Canadian data seems to disappoint now on every release,” Steve Butler, director of foreign-exchange trading in Toronto at Bank of Nova Scotia’s Scotia Capital unit, said via e-mail. “If stocks don’t turn around, the Canadian dollar should easily give back all of the gains post-FOMC and more.” The Canadian currency was little changed at C$1.0267 per U.S. dollar at 8:49 a.m. in Toronto, compared with C$1.0268 yesterday. It touched C$1.0192, the strongest level since Aug. 6. One Canadian dollar buys 97.40 U.S. cents. Retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent to C$35.9 billion ($35.1 billion) in July as consumers cut purchases of furniture, appliances and electronics. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg anticipated a 0.6 percent gain, according to the median of 15 estimates. Statistics Canada reported yesterday that consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in August. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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