Canadian factory sales post surprise rise in September

Canadian manufacturing sales advanced more than expected in September, led by the transportation equipment sector, official data revealed on Wednesday. According to Statistics Canada, sales rose 0.3% to C$51.47 billion ($38.28 billion) in the reported month, following August's increase of 0.9%, while market analysts anticipated a fall of 0.2%. However, not taking into account price changes, the volume of factory goods sold in September, dropped 0.2%. On an annual basis, factory sales climbed 1.4%. Even though sales fell in volume terms, manufacturing sales are expected to provide significant support to the Canadian economy in the Q4. Sales grew in 12 out of 21 industries; however, the transportation equipment sector's gain of 1.5% accounted for more than 85% of the September gain. The September rise was also helped by fabricated metal products, which posted a 2.4% increase, the largest since May of 2015. Statistics Canada also said that new orders advanced 2.3%, mainly driven by gains in the machinery and transportation equipment sectors, while unfilled orders decreased 0.2% in the ninth month of the year. Furthermore, inventories increased 0.5% to C$70.27, supported by the food, transportation equipment and chemical industries.