Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was almost unchanged against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, after the release of upbeat U.S. jobless claims data as sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable ahead of Friday's key U.S. employment report.
USD/CAD was steady at 1.2317 by 09:30 a.m. ET (13:30 GMT), just off Wednesday's fresh four-month low of 1.2248.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that initial jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 230,000 in the week ending January 27. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise to 238,000 last week.
The greenback briefly rebounded after the Fed, at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday, signaled its confidence about inflation and growth in the U.S.
The Fed said that inflation is likely to rise this year, boosting expectations for further interest rate hikes under incoming central bank head Jerome Powell.
The Fed left rates unchanged on Wednesday, in widely expected move. The meeting was current Fed chair Janet Yellen's last.
Market participants were now looking ahead to Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the strength of the job market.
Separately, the commodity-related Canadian dollar benefited from a rise in oil prices on Thursday, helped by news of a sharp decline in U.S. stocks of gasoline and distillate supplies.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD up 0.20% at 1.5324.