Investing.com - The U.S. dollar held steady against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, after the release of downbeat U.S. jobless claims data as investors turned their attention to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report.
USD/CAD hit 1.3039 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s lowest since Tuesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3060.
The pair was likely to find support 1.2998, the low of July 29 and resistance at 1.3148, Wednesday’s high.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims increased by 3,000 to 269,000 from the previous week’s total of 266,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to decline by 1,000 to 265,000 last week.
The dollar has come under pressure amid diminished expectations for another rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year after last week’s surprisingly weak data on U.S. second quarter growth.
The U.S. central bank hiked rates for the first time in almost a decade in December.
The dollar found some support after Wednesday’s better-than-expected data on U.S. private sector hiring.
Payroll processor ADP said the private sector added 179,000 jobs last month, surpassing economists’ expectations for an increase of 170,000.
While not viewed as a reliable guide for the closely watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due to be released on Friday, it does give guidance on private-sector hiring.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD slipping 0.14% to 1.4548.