Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, bouncing off a one-month low as upbeat U.S. jobless claims data lent support to the greenback, while declining oil prices dampened demand for the commodity-related Canadian currency.
USD/CAD hit 1.2763 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2755, up 0.50%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2647, the low of April 25 and resistance at 1.2984, the high of June 6.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 4 decreased by 4,000 to 264,000 from the previous week’s total of 268,000, which was revised up from the initial read of 267,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 270,000 last week.
The greenback weakened earlier in the week, as markets pushed back expectations on the timing of the next rate hike by the U.S. central bank after Friday’s dismal employment report for May, which showed the slowest rate of jobs growth since September 2010.
A speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Monday indicated that interest rates won’t rise until uncertainty over the economic outlook is resolved.
Yellen said she expects the economic recovery to continue but gave no indications on the timing of a next rate increase.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar came under pressure as oil prices moved lower on Thursday amid profit-taking following the previous session’s sharp rally.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.21% to 1.4436.
Data earlier showed that Germany’s trade surplus widened to €24.0 billion from revised €23.7 billion in March.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned Thursday that uncertainty over the future of the euro is holding back progress in the region.
The comments came during a speech at the Brussels Economic Forum.