GBP/CAD slips from 1-week high on above-forecast UK retail sales drop

The GBP/CAD currency pair edged lower on Friday, pulling back from a one-week high, after data showed UK retail sales had decreased at a steeper rate than expected in September.

Retail sales in the country shrank 0.9% month-over-month, compared with market expectations of a 0.2% decrease, following a 0.4% growth in August.

Sales at non-food stores went down 1.9% in September amid continuing inflationary pressures and as the unseasonably warm weather reduced sales of autumn-wear clothing.

Sales at food stores edged up 0.2% month-over-month, while sales of auto fuel rose 0.8%.

Meanwhile, retail sales, which exclude fuel sales, went down 1% month-over-month in September, compared with market expectations of a 0.4% slump.

In annual terms, UK retail sales dropped 1% in September, again at a much faster pace than expected.

In other macro data, CAD traders now look to Canadian retail sales numbers for August, which will be released at 12:30 GMT.

Canadian retail sales probably dropped 0.3% in August from July, according to a consensus of analyst estimates, after a 0.3% growth in the prior month.

As of 7:05 GMT on Friday GBP/CAD was edging down 0.28% on the day to trade at 1.6609. Yesterday the minor Forex pair went up as high as 1.6687. The latter has been the pair’s strongest level since October 13th (1.6708).