Canada: Ivey PMI jumps to 72.9 in March vs. 60.5 expected

• Ivey PMI in Canada rose sharply in March.
• USD/CAD continues to edge higher despite the upbeat data.

The economic activity in Canada's private sector expanded at an impressive pace in March with the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (seasonally adjusted) jumping to 72.9 from 60 in February. This reading beat the market expectation of 60.5 by a wide margin as well.

Further details of the publication showed that the Employment Index improved to 62.7 from 54, the Inventories Index rose to 61.7 from 57.8 and the Prices Index edged lower to 75.1 from 80.2.

Market reaction

The CAD failed to capitalize on this upbeat report and the USD/CAD pair was last seen gaining 0.55% on a daily basis at 1.2632.