Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, but gains were expected to remain limited as positive jobs data from Canada supported the local currency and as growing hopes for a deal between Greece and its creditors boosted risk appetite.
USD/CAD hit 1.2666 during early U.S. trade, the pair's lowest since July 7; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2728, adding 0.16%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2562, the low of July 6 and resistance at 1.2743, Thursday's high.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people in Canada declined by 6,700 in June, compared to expectations for a 10,000 drop. The number of employed people rose by 58,900 in May.
The report also showed that Canada's unemlpoyment rate remained unchanged at 6.8% last month, confounding expectations for an uptick to 6.9%.
Meanwhile, market sentiment strengthened as the Eurogroup described Greece's latest reform proposals aimed at securing a vital third bailout as "thorough".
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said a "major decision... whichever way" could now be made at a euro zone finance meeting on Saturday.
Late Thursday, the Greek government offered to make painful spending cuts and hike taxes, in a last-ditch request to win one more bailout from Europe before the country descends into bankruptcy.
Athens was seeking at least €50 billion over the next three years. In exchange, the government presented a number of austerity measures that were said to total between €12 billion and €13 billion - significantly more than Greece’s previous commitments.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was set to put the reforms to a vote in parliament later Friday.
The loonie was sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD jumping 1.49% to 1.4234.