Canada: Retail Sales decline by 0.6% in July vs. +4.4% expected

• Retail Sales in Canada declined unexpectedly in July.
• USD/CAD trades deep in the negative territory near 1.2660.

Retail Sales in Canada contracted by 0.6% on a monthly basis in July, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Thursday. This reading followed June's increase of 4.2% and missed the market expectation of 4.4% by a wide margin.

Excluding automobiles, Retail Sales in Canada declined by 1% in the same period, compared to analysts' estimate for an increase of 4.6%.

"Based on respondent feedback, 0.5% of retailers were closed at some point in July, compared with approximately 5.2% of retailers that were closed in June," the publication further read.

Market reaction

Despite the disappointing data, the USD/CAD pair is having a difficult time staging a rebound and was last seen losing 0.85% on the day at 1.2663.