Investing.com - The U.S. dollar hit fresh six-month highs against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, supported by the release of strong U.S. employment data, while a downbeat trade balance report from Canada weighed on demand for the loonie.
USD/CAD hit 1.1244 during European afternoon trade, the pair's highest since March; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1226, advancing 0.61%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1156, the session low and resistance at 1.1278.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the Department of Labor said the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, more than the expected 215,000 increase. The number of jobs created in August was revised to 180,000 from a previous estimate of 142,000.
In addition, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.9% last month, from 6.1% in August. Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.10 billion in August from $40.30 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $40.60 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to $40.90 billion in August.
Meanwhile, data showed that Canada's trade balance swung into a deficit of C$0.61 billion in August from a surplus of C$2.20 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of C$2.58 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to narrow to C$1.50 billion in August.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD retreating 0.42% to 1.4076.
The euro showed little reaction after official data showed that euro zone retail sales rose 1.2% in August, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.1%, after 0.4% fall in July.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased by 1.9% in August, more than the expected 0.5% rise. July's figure was revised to a 0.5% gain from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.
Earlier Friday, Markit said the euro zone services purchasing managers' index ticked down to 52.4 in September from 52.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for the index to remain unchanged.
Markit also reported that Germany's services PMI rose to 55.7 last month from a reading of 55.4 in August, while France's services PMI fell to 48.4 in September from 49.4 in August.