Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged up against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, reapproaching the three-month high mark as upbeat U.S. jobless claims data lent further support to the greenback, although a strong report on Canadian building permits also boosted the loonie.
USD/CAD hit 1.0938 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0926, up 0.10%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0877, the low of July 31 and resistance at 1.0986, Wednesday's high.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 2 decreased by 14,000 to 289,000 from the previous week’s total of 303,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 305,000 last week.
Demand for the greenback had recently strengthened after data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in June, while a separate report on Tuesday showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in July.
In Canada, official data showed that building permits rose 13.5% June, confounding expectations for a 1.8% decline. Building permits for May were revised to a 15.4% gain from a previously estimated 13.8% rise.
The loonie was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD inching down 0.08% to 1.4597.
Also Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank still expects a "moderate" and "uneven" economic recovery in the euro area and acknowledged that there has been a slowing down in growth momentum.
The ECB kept its main refinancing rate at 0.15% earlier Thursday, in a widely anticipated decision.
Mr. Draghi said interest rates will remain at present levels "for an extended period of time" and reiterated that the bank was still committed to using unconventional measures if the outlook deteriorates.