Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate (GBP/CAD) Drops On Canadian Shop Sales Data

Published: Wednesday, 24 April 2013 09:00 BST - Written by Frank Davies

STORY LINK Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate (GBP/CAD) Drops On Canadian Shop Sales Data

North American data releases stole the show during yesterday afternoon’s European session. Canada led the way with the publication of February’s monthly Retail Sales data which showed that domestic shop sales increased by a higher than expected 0.8% the month before last. A combination of this positive data release, coupled with a positive performance from global share markets, sent the Pound to Canadian Dollar exchange rate (currency : GBP/CAD) down to as low as 1.5631 by the middle pat of the US trading day.

This month’s Markit US Purchasing Managers Index survey for April followed hot on the heels of the Canadian Retail Sales figure. The latest gauge of activity in America’s vast manufacturing sector made for uneasy reading for investors with interests in the US, showing that the rate of expansion of this key sector of the world’s leading economy is slowing. In fact, the figure revealed that manufacturing growth in the States is at its lowest level since the latter part of 2012.

Yesterday’s positive performance from global share markets, which saw London’s FTSE 100 close up by 2.00% and New York’s Dow Jones register gains of over 1.00% before pulling back before the market close, ensured that the high-yielding Australian and New Zealand Dollars pared their losses of earlier in the day. The gains for global equities markets were driven by positive results from disparate sectors including the chemical industry, aeronautic enterprises and handbag manufacturers. However, these gains for the risk-sensitive AUD, NZD, ZAR & CAD may prove to be short-lived if institutional investors discount these positive reports and instead focus on the recent negative PMI surveys from the US, Chinese and eurozone economies.

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