Canada's latest GDP data surprised on the upside.
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The loonie is surging after Canada's big GDP surprise
Canada's GDP data came in better than expected.
In the second quarter, the Canadian economy grew at an annualized 4.5% quarter-over-quarter rate, according to Statistics Canada.
That was ahead of both the 3.7% that economists were expecting and the 3% that was anticipated by the Bank of Canada.
Household final consumption and exports of goods were the main contributors to the stronger growth, Canada's national statistics agency added.
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"Overall, the latest GDP data show that the economy grew very strongly over the first half of this year, despite signs of housing slowdown," David Madani, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics, said in emailed comments.
"While we expect that slowdown to worsen over the second half of this year and into next year, the risks around our annual 2017 GDP growth forecast of 2.4% now lie firmly to the upside. "
He added that the stronger-than-expected reading could "embolden" the Bank of Canada to raise rates further before the end of 2017.
The Canadian dollar jumped after the data crossed, trading up 0.7% at 1.2537 against the US dollar around 10:21 a.m. ET. The loonie is up about 7% this year.
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