Investing.com - The U.S. dollar climbed against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, after the release of mixed Canadian employment data and as dropping oil prices dampened demand for the commodity-related Canadian currency.
USD/CAD hit 1.2999 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since September 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3007, advancing 0.56%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2847, Thursday’s low and resistance at 1.3049, the high of August 29.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people increased by 26,200 in August, beating expectations for a 15,000 rise and after a decline of 31,200 the previous month.
However, the report also showed that Canada’s unemployment rate ticked up to 7.0% last month from 6.9% in July. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in August.
The Canadian dollar was also hit by declining oil prices on Friday, as investors locked in profits from the previous session’s surge sparked by data showing that U.S. crude supplies fell by the most since April 1985 last week.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the dollar remained vulnerable as Thursday’s upbeat U.S. jobless claims report failed to boost optimism over the strength of the economy.
U.S. initial jobless claims decreased by 4,000 last week to a six-week low of 259,000 from the previous week’s total of 263,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 265,000 last week.
The loonie was also lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD gaining 0.26% to 1.4598.
The euro remained supported after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that the current monetary policy is effective and the changes to the banks growth forecast are not so substantial as to warrant a decision to act.
The comments came after the central bank left its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.0%, in line with market expectations.
The ECB also raised its 2016 growth forecast to 1.7% from 1.6%, but slightly lowered its 2017 forecast from 1.7% to 1.6%.