Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, boosted by a strong U.S. employment report, although equally positive jobs data from Canada lent some support to the local currency.
USD/CAD hit 1.2618 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at -, adding -%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2530, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.2654, the high of July 19.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 209,000 jobs last month, blowing past expectations for an increase of 183,000.
The U.S. economy added 231,000 jobs in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 222,000 rise.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3% in July from 4.4% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings increased by 0.3% last month, in line with forecasts and after a 0.2% gain in June.
The dollar had weakened earlier in the day, following reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas amid an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
According to Reuters, the subpoenas issued were in connection to a June 2016 meeting which involved Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer.
The greenback has been under heavy pressure recently amid worries over political turmoil in Washington and recent lackluster economic reports, which have raised doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates again this year.
In Canada, official data on Friday showed that the number of employed people increased by 10,900 in July, surpassing expectations for a rise of 10,000 and after a 45,300 climb the previous month.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% last month from 6.5% in June, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading.
However, on a less positive note, Statistics Canada said the trade deficit widened to C$3.60 billion in June from C$1.36 billion in May, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of C$1.09 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit C$1.35 billion in June.
The loonie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CAD at 1.4936.