BS: Canada Dollar Extends Drop Versus U.S. Peer as Retail Sales Fall
Canada’s dollar extended losses against its U.S. counterpart after a report showed retail sales unexpectedly fell in April.
Sales decreased 0.5 percent to C$38.9 billion ($38.1 billion), after a 0.4 percent gain in the previous month, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast 0.2 percent growth, based on the median of 22 projections. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney is due to speak in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“A disappointment in terms of retail sales is a disappointment for the fundamentals of Canada,” said Camilla Sutton, a Bank of Nova Scotia currency strategist in Toronto. “The Canadian dollar has gone back to earlier levels. We have Governor Carney speaking later today, so there will be some hesitancy to push it dramatically to either side.”
Canada’s currency fell 0.3 percent to C$1.0214 at 8:53 a.m. in Toronto after earlier dropping by as much as 0.4 percent. One Canadian dollar buys 97.90 U.S. cents.
To contact the reporter on this story: Catarina Saraiva in Washington at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
