Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was weaker against the Canadian dollar on Thursday after Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said January’s surprise rate cut had “bought some time” to examine the effects of lower oil prices.
USD/CAD hit lows of 1.2410 and was last down 0.77% to 1.2419.
Speaking in London, Poloz said the BoC was continuing to closely monitor oil prices and would do what was necessary to keep inflation near its 2% target.
“The negative effects of lower oil prices are beginning to appear. The positives take longer to emerge,” he said. “So we need to watch these competing forces play out in the economy.”
The greenback remained under broad selling pressure as uncertainty over the path of U.S. monetary policy continued to weigh after last week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The dollar remained lower after data on Thursday showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a five-week low, indicating that the recovery in the labor market remains strong.
The Labor Department reported that the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 21 declined by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 282,000 from the previous week’s total of 291,000.
Another report showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the fastest rate this month since September.
Research group Markit said the preliminary reading of its services purchasing managers index rose to 58.6 from a final reading of 57.1 in February
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.32% to 97.39, off lows of 96.32.