CAD takes turn for the worse as retail........>

FOREX: CAD takes turn for the worse as retail sales plummet

-After a relatively calm and steady start to the session, Canadian data pulled

the rug out from under the CAD as retail sales fell unexpectedly (-1.2% vs. Exp.

+0.5%) as motor vehicles/parts dealers sales fell 3.2% and building materials

fell by a similar margin. USD/CAD rallied well, but stopped short of printing a

new weekly high, with markets now eyeing resistance at the 50-dma of C$1.3194.

-GBP fared the best in G10 as markets closed out of shorts set since the

election high of $1.3514. The appointment of Andrew Bailey as the next Bank of

England governor had little impact, with markets suspecting he'll opt for the

status quo after Carney departs. Quadruple witching of equity index futures and

options kept stock markets volatile and helped trigger a decent opening rally to

hit new alltime highs. This kept CHF under pressure from the off, which sits at

the bottom of the G10 table ahead of the close.

-Next week, markets will likely wind down ahead of the Christmas break, but

there are a few releases that could take some focus. Prelim US durable goods

orders, Canadian GDP and Bank of Japan minutes are all on the docket.