Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to session highs against the Canadian dollar on Thursday as demand for the greenback was underpinned by expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to reduce its stimulus program at next week’s policy meeting.
USD/CAD was up 0.41% to highs of 1.0630 from session lows of 1.0559.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0550 and near-term resistance at 1.0650.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that an agreement on a two year U.S. budget deal would prompt the Fed to begin tapering its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program at its policy meeting scheduled for December 17 - 18.
The release of some mixed U.S. data on initial jobless claims and retail sales did little to shift expectations on the timing of possible Fed tapering.
The Department of Labor said Thursday the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose to a two month high of 368,000, compared to expectations for an increase to 320,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 300,000.
A separate report showed that U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in November, above expectations for a 0.6% increase. Core retail sales rose 0.4%, above forecasts for a 0.2% increase the Commerce Department said.
In Canada, data on Thursday showed that the new house price index inched up just 0.1% in October, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain and following a flat reading in September.
Elsewhere, the loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.25% to 1.4634.
USD/CAD was up 0.41% to highs of 1.0630 from session lows of 1.0559.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0550 and near-term resistance at 1.0650.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that an agreement on a two year U.S. budget deal would prompt the Fed to begin tapering its USD85 billion a month asset purchase program at its policy meeting scheduled for December 17 - 18.
The release of some mixed U.S. data on initial jobless claims and retail sales did little to shift expectations on the timing of possible Fed tapering.
The Department of Labor said Thursday the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose to a two month high of 368,000, compared to expectations for an increase to 320,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 300,000.
A separate report showed that U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in November, above expectations for a 0.6% increase. Core retail sales rose 0.4%, above forecasts for a 0.2% increase the Commerce Department said.
In Canada, data on Thursday showed that the new house price index inched up just 0.1% in October, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain and following a flat reading in September.
Elsewhere, the loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.25% to 1.4634.