C$ softens after retail sales, cracks C$1.33

Canadian retail sales rose for the third month in a row in July, up 0.5 percent, fueled by new car and clothing sales.

The rise was in line with economists polled by Reuters, but sales were flat and below expectations when automotive figures were excluded. Volumes were also weaker than the headline, while figures from the previous month were revised lower.

Overseas, the latest data out of China showed the country’s manufacturing sector had its biggest contraction since the

global financial crisis, intensifying concerns that a slowdown in world’s second-largest economy could spread.

At 9:09 a.m. EDT (1309 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at C$ 1.3313 to the greenback, or 75.11 US cents, softer than before the data’s release and the Bank of Canada’s official close of C$ 1.3258, or 75.43 US cents on Tuesday.

The currency, which firmed to C$ 1.3233 earlier in the session, broke through C$ 1.33 to weaken to C$ 1.3320 following the data, within striking distance of multi-year lows.

Brent crude oil rose towards $ 50 a barrel on Wednesday as a drawdown in US crude oil stocks outweighed the negative impact of weak economic manufacturing data from China. US crude prices were unchanged at $ 46.36, while Brent crude added 0.35 percent to $ 49.25.

The Canadian dollar was mostly stronger against other key currency counterparts.

Canadian government bond prices were mixed across the maturity curve, with the two-year price down 2 Canadian cents to yield 0.508 percent and the benchmark 10-year rising 8 Canadian cents to yield 1.471 percent.

The Canada-US two-year bond spread was -18.7 basis points, while the 10-year spread was -67.2 basis points.