08:57 AM EDT, 06/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Canadian dollar steadied near intraday lows against the US dollar and other major currencies in early North American trade on Friday after government data showed retail sales surging and producer prices stalling in April.

USD/CAD was quoted 0.08% higher around 1.3695 after ebbing from intraday highs just above 1.37 after Statistics Canada said retail sales increased 0.7% month-over-month in April, and 1.8% MoM if large ticket items such as automobile sales are excluded from the data.

Sales had been expected to rise 0.7% MoM in both headline and core terms, meaning the ex-autos measure of sales topped expectations by a considerable distance, after seven out of nine sub-sectors reported increased turnover for April.

Canadian dollar gains may have been stifled by producer price figures, however, as the headline index fell to 0% MoM in April following a 1.5% increase previously. This was below the expected 0.5% increase.

Meanwhile, prices rose 1.8% in year-over-year terms following a 1.3% increase previously, though there was no consensus for this figure.