Canada's retail sales in December grew by a robust 2.5% on a monthly basis, beating analysts' expectations, as a sales tax holiday bumped up spending on food and beverages and people also bought cars and vehicle parts,

Canadian retail sales grew by 2.5% in December from November at C$69.59 billion ($49.05 billion), led by increased sales at food and beverage retailers, as well as motor vehicle and parts dealers, Statistics Canada said on Friday.