Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to fresh three-week highs against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, boosted by the release of upbeat U.S. jobless claims data and as investors turned to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report.
USD/CAD hit 1.3140 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pairs subsequently consolidated at 1.3139, gaining 0.27%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3075, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.3191, the high of August 9.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 27 increased by 2,000 to 263,000 from the previous week’s total of 261,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 265,000 last week.
The data came a day after U.S. payroll processing firm ADP said that nonfarm private employment rose by 177,000 last month, surpassing expectations for an increase of 175,000.
The strong employment data added to expectations for an upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve since Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said earlier in the week that the U.S. labor market is almost at full strength and that the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent.
Meanwhile, declining oil prices weighed on the commodity-related Canadian dollar after data on Wednesday showed that U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week.
The loonie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CAD at 1.4631.