Canada: Retail Sales plunged by -10% in March as expected

• Retail Sales in Canada fell by 10% in March.
• USD/CAD pair continues to trade in positive territory above 1.4000.

Retail Sales in Canada declined by 10% to $47.1 billion in March, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Friday. This reading followed March's increase of 0.3% and came in line with the market expectation. Moreover, the report further revealed that Retail Sales Excluding Autos fell by 0.4% to come in better than analysts' estimate of -5%.

"As a result of this pandemic, many Canadian retailers shut down operations mid-month, curtailed hours and customer flow in the stores that remained open, all of which contributed to changes in the shopping habits of consumers," the publication read.

"Sales were down in 6 of 11 subsectors, representing 39.2% of retail trade," Statistics Canada added. "Retail sales in volume terms declined a record 8.2%."

Market reaction

The USD/CAD pair edged slightly higher with the initial reaction and was last seen gaining 0.45% on the day at 1.4015.