Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, as surging oil prices lent support to the commodity-related Canadian currency despite the release of a downbeat report on Canadian building permits.
USD/CAD hit 1.2805 during early U.S. trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2816, declining 0.44%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2624, the low of April 21 and resistance at 1.2992, the high of April 18.
The Canadian dollar strengthened with oil prices rallying over 3% on Thursday, as a wildfire in Northern Alberta, Canada disrupted the country’s oil production.
Also Thursday, Statistics Canada reported that building permits dropped by 7.0% in March, compared to expectations for a 5.0% decline. Building permits increased by 15.3% in February, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 15.5% climb.
In the U.S., the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 29 increased by 17,000 to 274,000 from the previous week’s total of 257,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 260,000 last week.
Market participants were looking to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls data after payroll processing firm ADP said on Wednesday that non-farm private employment rose by 156,000 last month, missing expectations for an increase of 196,000.
The weak data was offset however by data showing that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.44 billion in March from $46.96 billion in February.
In addition, the Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index improved to a four-month high of 55.7 last month from 54.5 in March.
The loonie was sharply higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD retreating 0.89% to 1.4648.