Canada: Manufacturing Sales plunged by 28.5% in April

• Manufacturing Sales in Canada declined more than expected in April.
• USD/CAD clings to strong gaily gains around 1.3640 after the data.

Manufacturing Sales in Canada declined by a record 28.5% on a monthly basis to $36.4 billion, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Monday. This reading followed March's fall of 9.2% and came in worse than the market expectation for a decrease of 18.7%.

"April marked the first full month of physical distancing measures in the wake of COVID-19 and manufacturing plants operated at limited capacity or ceased operations completely," the press release read. "In volume terms, manufacturing sales fell by a record 26.0%, indicating that a much lower volume of products was sold in April."

Market reaction

The USD/CAD pair edged slightly higher and was last seen gaining 0.4% on the day at 1.3638.