Investing.com - The U.S. dollar dropped to one-week lows against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, after the release of disappointing U.S. jobless claims data and as investors eyed an upcoming report on U.S. manufacturing activity.
USD/CAD hit 1.3229 during early U.S. trade, the pair's lowest since September 22; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3237, declining 0.67%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3171, the low of September 21 and resistance at 1.3432, Wednesday's high.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending September 26 increased by 10,000 to 277,000 from the previous week’s total of 267,000, compared to expectations for a 3,000 rise.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday’s U.S. jobs report for September, which could help to provide clarity on the likelihood of a near-term interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD retreating 0.80% to 1.4768.
Earlier Thursday, research group Markit said that Germany's manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 52.3 last month from 52.5 in August. France's manufacturing PMI ticked up to 50.6 in September from 50.4 the previous month.
Markit also reported that its manufacturing PMI for the entire euro zone came out at 52.0 in September, in line with expectations.