Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged lower against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, weighed by the release of downbeat U.S. economic reports and growing anticipation ahead of a major U.S. tax overhaul, while upbeat Canadian data supported demand for the local currency.
USD/CAD was down 0.08% at 1.2753 by 09:30 a.m. ET (13:30 GMT).
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that initial jobless claims increased unexpectedly to 249,000 last week.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its manufacturing index fell to 22.7 in November from 27.9 the previous month, confounding expectations for a decline to only 25.0.
The greenback had strengthened mildly after Wednesday's positive U.S. inflation and retail sales reports boosted expectations for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Later Thursday, U.S. House Republicans were set to pass a sweeping rewrite of the tax code, bringing President Donald Trump and the Republican party closer to their first major legislative win.
The final passage vote is expected soon after Trump speaks with a full conference of House Republicans at an 11:30 a.m. ET (16:30 GMT) closed-door meeting in Washington.
In Canada, official data showed that manufacturing sales rose 0.5% in September, compared to expectations for a 0.3% decline. Manufacturing sales increased by 1.4% in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.6% gain.
A separate report showed that Canada's foreign securities purchases rose to C$16.8 billion in September from C$9.8 billion the previous month.
However, the commodity-related Canadian dollar's gains were capped by declining oil prices on Thursday, amid concerns over rising U.S. crude stockpiles.
The loonie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.21% to 1.5017.