Canada: Retail Sales unchanged in December at $51.6 billion vs. +0.1% expected

• Retail Sales in Canada stayed unchanged in December.
• USD/CAD pair trades in positive territory above 1.3260.

Retail Sales in Canada remained virtually unchanged in December at $51.6 billion following November's increase of 1.1% (revised from 0.9%), Statistics Canada reported on Friday. This reading came in worse than the market expectation of +0.1%.

"Retail sales decreased 0.2% in the fourth quarter, after increasing 0.3% in the third quarter," the publication read. "Retail sales volumes were down 0.5%, following a 0.3% increase in the third quarter."

USD/CAD reaction

The USD/CAD pair rose modestly after the uninspiring data and was last seen trading at 1.3262, adding 0.02% on the day.