Investing.com - The U.S. dollar erased gains against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, pulling away from a 2-12 month peak as disappointing U.S. employment data dampened expectations for an upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
USD/CAD pulled away from 1.2633, the pair's highest since April 13, to hit 1.2577 during early U.S. trade, slipping 0.10%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2475, Wednesday's low and resistance at 1.2647, the high of April 13.
The Labor Department reported on Thursday that the economy added 223,000 jobs in June, compared to expectations for jobs growth of 230,000. May’s figure was revised down to 254,000 from 262,000 previously.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 5.3% last month, from 5.5% in June. Economists had expected the jobless rate to decline to 5.4%.
A separate report showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 27 increased by 10,000 to 281,000 from the previous week’s total of 271,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 1,000 to 270,000 last week.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday urged Greeks to reject an international bailout deal in a referendum due to be held on July 5, souring hopes of any breakthrough.
Less than 24 hours before, Tsipras had written a conciliatory letter to creditors asking for a new bailout that would accept many of their terms.
On Wednesday Greece became the first developed country to default on the International Monetary Fund after its second bailout program expired late Tuesday. The IMF confirmed that the Greek government failed to make a scheduled €1.6 billion loan repayment.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.19% to 1.3941.