Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose ot fresh five-year highs against its Canadian counterpart on Monday, as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported despite Friday's disappointing U.S. average earnings report.
USD/CAD hit 1.1918 during early U.S. trade, the pair's highest since May 2009; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1917, advancing 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1801, Friday's low and resistance at 1.1951.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December, more than the 240,000 forecast by economists. The unemployment rate ticked down to a six-and-a-half year low 5.6%.
However, average earnings fell by 0.2% last month and were up by only 1.7% from a year earlier.
Weakness in earnings prompted investors to take profits in the dollar, as markets pushed back expectations for the first hike in U.S. interest rates to late-2015.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar remained under pressure after official data on Friday showed that the number of employed people declined by 4,300 last month, condounding expectations for a 15,000 rise.
Canada's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.6% in December, in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that Canada's building permits dropped by 13.8% in November, compared to expectations for a 1.0% rise.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.22% to 1.4085.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable amid speculation that the European Central Bank will embark on full blown quantitative easing as soon as its next meeting on January 22.
Over the weekend, the governor of the Italy’s central bank warned that the euro zone is at risk of further deflation and said the best way to combat that threat is through purchasing government bonds.