Retail sales in Canada increased by 1.6 percent in October, according to a report by Statistics Canada, issued just moments ago, to reach $57.6 billion, after declining by about 0.6 percent in September, exceeding expectations that indicated a growth of about 1%.

Spare parts increased by 2.2% and sales of new cars increased by 2.8%. With the increase in sales in seven of the 11 sub-sectors representing about 59.9% of the retail trade, the basic sales, which exclude the prices of cars, spare parts and petrol stations, increased by about 1.5%.

The Canadian dollar is trading at 1.2923 levels against the US dollar, close to its lowest level during the current year recorded yesterday, Monday, at 1.2962 levels.