August’s retail sales shaped up largely as expected, gaining 1% M/M on an identical increase in volumes. Results were helped by a 1.8% gain in vehicle sales…

… which carried the group on an absolute basis, resulting in a miss on core sales - which grew 0.7% versus estimates of 1.2%.

The strength in auto activity drove solid M/M performance in Ontario and Quebec, which led regional results…

… but should be short-lived, with preliminary estimates for September calling for a 0.7% drop in retail sales.