Investing.com - The U.S. dollar trimmed losses against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, re-approaching a 11-1/2 year peak as expectations for a U.S. rate hike next week continued to lend broad support to the greenback.
USD/CAD eased off 1.3533, the session low, to hit 1.3575 during early U.S. trade, steady for the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3493, the low of December 8 and resistance at 1.3621, Wednesday's high and an 11-1/2 year high.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 4 increased by 13,000 to 282,000 from the previous week’s total of 269,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to hold steady at 269,000 last week.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that the Fed is on track to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its upcoming meeting on December 15-16.
Higher interest rates would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors.
In Canada, data showed that new housing prices rose 0.3% in October, exceeding expectations for an uptick of 0.1%, after a 0.1% rise the previous month.
But demand for the Canadian dollar remained under pressure amid the oil market's ongoing rout. Crude oil futures for January delivery were down 1.18% at a fresh seven-year low of $36.73 in early U.S. trading.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD declining 0.58% to 1.4882.