Investing.com - The U.S. trimmed gains against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports, although tumbling oil prices and downbeat Canadian data dampened demand for the local currency.
USD/CAD pulled away from 1.2896, the session high, to hit 1.2859 during early U.S. trade, still up 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2743, the low of April 13 and a nine-month low and resistance at 1.3015, the high of April 11.
Official data showed that U.S. industrial production decreased by 0.6% last month, worse than expectations for a decline of 0.1%. Manufacturing production declined by 0.3% last month, worse than forecasts for a 0.1% increase.
The data came shortly after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index improved to 9.65 this month from a reading of 0.62 in March. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 2.21 in April.
Investors were now eyeing the release of a U.S. report on consumer sentiment due later Friday for further indications on the strength of the economy.
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales dropped by 3.3% in February, compared to expectations for a 1.5% decline, after an increase of 2.3% the previous month.
The commodity-related Canadian dollar also weakened as oil prices turned sharply lower on Friday as investors grew cautious ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated meeting between major oil producers in Qatar.
Oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia were scheduled to meet in Doha on Sunday to discuss freezing output around current levels in an effort to contain a global supply glut.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.28% to 1.4510.