Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to fresh three-week highs against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, after the release of strong U.S. jobs data added to expectations for an upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
USD/CAD hit 1.3119 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since August 10; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3121, adding 0.18%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3005, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3191, the high of August 9.
U.S. payroll processing firm ADP said nonfarm private employment rose by 177,000 last month, surpassing expectations for an increase of 175,000.
The economy created 194,000 jobs in July, whose figure was revised from a previously reported increase of 179,000.
The data came a day after Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the U.S. labor market is almost at full strength and the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent.
Market participants were now turning their attention to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for confirmation of the strength of the U.S. job market.
Also Wednesday, Statistics Canada said the country’s gross domestic product rose by 0.6% in June, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.4% and after a 0.6% contraction the previous month.
However, year-on-year, Canada’s economy contracted by 1.6% in the second quarter, exceeding expectations for a 1.5% decline.
The loonie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CAD at 1.4605.