Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, to trade near three-month highs as concerns over tensions in Iraq and Ukraine supported the safe-haven greenback, while the release of disappointing employment data from Canada dented the loonie.
USD/CAD hit 1.0963 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0959, gaining 0.36%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0904, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.1004, the high of May 2.
Risk sentiment weakened after U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday authorized air strikes in Iraq to put an end to an onslaught by Islamic militants and begun military air-drops of humanitarian supplies to besieged religious minorities to prevent a "potential act of genocide".
Market participants also continued to monitor developments between the U.S. and Russia, as Moscow decided on Thursday to ban imports of most food from the West in retaliation against sanctions against it over Ukraine.
Visiting Kiev this week, NATO's secretary general says that Moscow has massed troops on the country's border with Ukraine in preparation for a possible ground invasion.
In Canada, official data showed that the number of employed people rose by 200 last month, disappointing expectations for an increase of 20,000, after a 9,400 decline in June.
However, the report also showed that Canada's unemployment rate ticked down to 7.0% in July, from 7.1% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD climbing 0.51% to 1.4673.
In the euro zone, official data earlier showed that Germany's trade surplus narrowed to €16.2 billion in June, from €18.8 billion in May. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to narrow to €17.5 billion in June.
A separate report showed that French industrial production rose 1.3% in June, exceeding expectations for a 1.0% gain, after a decline of 1.6% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 2.3% drop.