Canada: Manufacturing Sales increase by 3.1% in January vs. 2.5% expected

• Manufacturing Sales in Canada rose at a stronger pace than expected in January.
• USD/CAD pair trades flat on the day below 1.2500 after the data.

Manufacturing Sales in Canada rose by 3.1% in January to $56.2 billion, the data published by Statistics Canada revealed on Monday. This reading followed February's increase of 0.9% and came in better than the market expectation of 2.5%.

"Sales were up in 16 of 21 industries, driven mainly by the wood product, computer and electronic product, and primary metal industries. Motor vehicle manufacturing posted the largest decline," the publication read. "In constant dollars, manufacturing sales were up 1.1%, indicating a higher volume of goods sold in January."

Market reaction

The USD/CAD pair showed no immediate reaction to this report and was last seen trading virtually unchanged on the day at 1.2476.