Canadian retail sales likely to have grown in October on further rise in motor vehicle sales

Canadian October retail sales data are set to release tomorrow. According to a TD Economics research report, retail sales are expected to have grown 0.4 percent in the month on further gains in motor vehicle sales along with more modest rise in ex-auto sales.

Preliminary data, while volatile, indicated higher sales for trucks and passenger vehicles although ongoing weakness in home sales calls into question the durability of any gains.

Nevertheless, residential construction has risen through the fourth quarter which should underpin a rebound in building materials after a cumulative 4 percent fall in the last three months.

“Gasoline station sales should provide a slight drag on the headline print owing to lower prices at the pump although higher prices as a whole will leave real retail sales to underperform the nominal print”, added TD Economics.

At 18:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Canadian Dollar was highly bearish at -143.472, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was bearish at -76.5674. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex