Investing.com - The U.S. dollar moved higher against the Canadian dollar on Wednesday after data showed that U.S. service sector activity rose to a four-month high in January.
USD/CAD was up 0.18% to 1.1103 recovering from session lows of 1.1038.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.1038 and resistance at 1.1160.
The Markit U.S. services purchasing managers’ index rose to 56.7 last month from 55.7 in December and slightly higher than expectations for a reading of 56.6.
The Institute of Supply Management was to release its closely watched services PMI later in the trading day, after Monday’s U.S. manufacturing report showed that activity slumped to a seven-month low in January.
The report came after data showed that the U.S. private sector added fewer-than-expected jobs in January, fuelling concerns over the recovery in the labor market.
ADP non-farm payrolls rose by 175,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 180,000.
The report fuelled concerns over a slowdown in the U.S. recovery, ahead of Friday’s keenly anticipated government nonfarm payrolls report.
Friday’s report is expected to show that jobs growth rebounded in January after unseasonably cold weather in December kept gains down to 74,000.
In Canada, data on Wednesday showed that building permits issued in December fell by 4.1%. Market expectations had been for an increase of 2.0%.
Elsewhere, the loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD up 0.29% to 1.5024.
The euro remained supported after encouraging euro zone private sector data for January offset a report showing a sharp fall in retail sales in the region in December.
The final reading of the euro zone composite output index came in at a two-and-a-half year high of 52.9 in January, up from 52.1 in December.
A separate report showed that euro zone retail sales fell at the fastest rate since May 2011 in December.