Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged lower against its Canadian counterpart on Tuesday, pulling away from a one-week peak as the release of mixed U.S. data dampened demand for the greenback, while a disappointing economic report from Canada limited the local currency's gains.
USD/CAD hit 1.2980 during early U.S. trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2979, sliding 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2897, Wednesday's low and resistance at 1.3080, the high of October 13.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that housing starts rose 6.5% to 1.206 million units last month from August’s total of 1.132 million units. Analysts had expected a figure of 1.140 million.
The report also showed that the number of building permits issued dropped by 5.0% to 1.103 million units from August’s total of 1.170 million. Analysts expected building permits to fall by 0.9% to 1.164 million units in July.
The mixed data fuelled further uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates.
At the same time, data showed that Canada's wholesale sales slipped 0.1% in August, compared to expectations for a 0.2% rise and after a 0.1% downtick the previous month.
Canada elected its first Liberal government in almost a decade late Monday, sparking uncertainty over the economic outlook.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD edging up 0.10% to 1.4747.