Retail sales in Canada increased by 3.2% in January, according to a report by Statistics Canada, issued just moments ago, to reach $58.9 billion, after declining by about 1.8% in December, exceeding expectations that indicated a growth of about 2.4%.

The growth in January was supported by the increase in sales in the auto sector and parts Spare parts increased by 5.3% and sales of new cars increased by 5.5%. With the increase in sales in nine sectors out of 11 sub-sectors representing about 85.5% of the retail trade, the basic sales, which exclude the prices of cars, spare parts and petrol stations, increased by about 2.9%.

The Canadian dollar is trading at 1.2620 levels against the US dollar, on strong gains, benefiting from the positive data and the continuous increases in crude prices since three sessions.