Investing.com - The U.S. dollar remained higher against the Canadian dollar on Monday despite data showing that Canadian building permits rose strongly for a second month in July, pointing to underlying strength in the construction sector.
USD/CAD touched highs of 1.0915 and was last up 0.23% to 1.0905.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0870 and resistance at around the 1.0950 level.
The Canadian dollar shrugged off data showing that the number of new building permits issued in July jumped 11.8%, compared to expectations for a decline of 4.2%.
June’s figure was revised to a gain of 16.4% from a previously reported increase of 13.5%.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, remained under pressure after data on Friday showed that the country’s economy unexpectedly shed 11,000 jobs in August, indicating that the recovery is struggling to regain momentum.
Economists had forecast jobs growth of 10,000.
Also Friday, official data indicated that the rate of U.S. jobs growth slowed in August.
The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs last month, disappointing forecasts of 225,000. The unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1% from 6.2% in July as more workers left the labor force.
But the dollar’s losses were held in check after other economic reports earlier last week indicated that the U.S. recovery is still on track.
Elsewhere, the loonie slipped lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD edging up 0.16% to 1.4114, recovering from last Thursday’s 10 month lows of 1.4035.
In the euro zone, data on Monday showed that economic confidence deteriorated sharply this month, despite the European Central Bank’s latest measures to shore up growth and inflation in the region.
The Sentix index of investor confidence tumbled to -9.8 this month, the lowest reading since July 2013, down from 2.7 in August.