Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged lower against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, as downbeat Canadian manufacturing sales data dampened demand for the loonie, but investors were still eyeing upcoming U.S. economic reports.
USD/CAD hit 1.0941 during European afternoon trade, the pair's lowest since January 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0965, edging down 0.09%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0905, the low of January 16 and resistance at 1.1091, the high of January 20.
Official data showed that manufacturing sales in Canada fell 0.9% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise. Manufacturing sales in November were revised down to a 0.5% gain from a previously estimated 1% increase.
In the U.S., data showed that import prices rose 0.1% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.1% downtick, after a 0.2% rise in December.
The greenback still remained under pressure after the Commerce Department on Thursday said U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.3% increase, while the Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 8,000 to 339,000 from the previous week’s total of 331,000.
The loonie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CAD inching up 0.03% to 1.5016.
Also Friday, preliminary data showed that German gross domestic product rose 0.4% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.3% expansion, and after a 0.3% rise in the three months to September.
A preliminary report also showed that French GDP expanded by 0.3% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a 0.1% contraction in the third quarter.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, as well as data on industrial production.