Canada Wholesale Sales Climbs 1% in April

Wholesale sales in Canada surged in April for a seventh consecutive monthly gain, likely stoking expectations of an interest-rate increase from the Bank of Canada -- perhaps as early as next month.

Wholesale sales increased 1% on a seasonally-adjusted basis in April to 61.01 billion Canadian dollars ($46.15 billion), Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Market expectations were for a 0.5% rise, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada.

In volume terms, April wholesale sales rose 0.7% from the previous month.

March's wholesale trade figures were also revised upward, and now indicate sales climbed 1.2% versus the earlier estimate of a 0.9% rise.

On a 12-month basis, wholesale trade rose 10.3%.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2017 08:54 ET (12:54 GMT)