Investing.com - The U.S. rose against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, as downbeat Canadian retail sales data dampened demand for the local currency, while markets an upcoming report on U.S. manufacturing activity.
USD/CAD hit 1.2538 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2521, adding 0.21%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2359, the low of February 17 and resistance at 1.2624, the high of February 10.
In a report, Statistics Canada said that retail sales dropped 2.0% in December, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% slip, after a 0.4% rise the previous month.
Core retail sales, wich exclude automobiles, declined by 2.3% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.7% fall, after an increase of 0.7% in November.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the dollar remained vulnerable after mixed U.S. data on Thursday sparked uncertainty over the strength of the country's economic recovery.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index deteriorated to a 12-month low of 5.2 this month from January’s reading of 6.3.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 14 decreased by 21,000 to 283,000, compared to expectations for a 11,000 fall to 293,000.
Market participants were also focusing on developments in Greece as another round of talks with eurozone finance ministers was set to take place later Friday after Germany rejected a proposed bailout extension request from Greece.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD retreating 0.40% to 1.4148.
Earlier Friday, research group Markit said that the euro zone's preliminary composite purchasing managers' index rose to 53.5 this month from 52.6 in January, beating expectations for a reading of 53.0.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release preliminary data on manufacturing activity.