The Canadian dollar declined against most major currencies on Thursday, following the release of disappointing economic data.

Official figures revealed that Canadas retail sales index fell by 1.1% in May, surpassing analysts expectations of a 0.9% decline.

Excluding volatile components such as energy and food, core retail sales dropped by 0.2%, in line with market forecasts.

As of 19:58 GMT, the Canadian dollar had fallen 0.3% against its US counterpart, trading at 0.7330.

Australian Dollar

The Australian dollar remained stable against the US dollar, trading at 0.6601 as of 19:59 GMT.

Government data showed that Australias manufacturing PMI rose to 51.6, while the services PMI climbed to 53.8.

US Dollar

The US dollar index rose by 0.2% to 97.3 at 19:42 GMT, reaching an intraday high of 97.5 and a low of 97.1.

President Donald Trump announced plans to visit the Federal Reserve headquarters later today, escalating his pressure campaign on Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The visit would mark the first by a sitting US president to the central bank in nearly two decades.

Meanwhile, a private survey by SP Global showed that the US composite PMI for output rose to 54.6 in Julys preliminary reading from 52.9 in June, marking a seven-month high.

The services PMI increased to 55.2 from 52.9, while the manufacturing PMI declined to 51.2 from 53.1, signaling a slowdown in production.