Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Friday, pulling away from four-month lows as the release of downbeat Canadian employment data weighed on the loonie, while geopolitical tensions in Ukraine supported safe-haven demand.
USD/CAD hit 1.0898 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0897, climbing 0.60%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0773, the low of January 8 and resistance at 1.0960, the high of May 6.
The loonie weakened after official data showed that the number of employed people in Canada fell by 28,900 last month, compared to expectations for a 12,000 rise, after a 42,900 increase in March.
The report also showed that Canada's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9% in April, in line with market expectations.
Meanwhile, demand for the safe-haven greenback found support after pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine ignored a public call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone a referendum on self-rule. They said they plan to go ahead on Sunday with a vote that some fear could lead to a civil war.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Friday that the European Union was still struggling to agree on what approach to take on the crisis and that the event was the biggest threat to European security since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Canadian dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.22% to 1.5022.
Also Friday, Earlier Friday, official data showed that Germany's trade surplus narrowed to €14.8 billion in March from €15.8 billion in February, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of €15.7 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to €16.6 billion in March.