Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was hovering at fresh six-year highs against its Canadian counterpart on Friday, as upbeat U.S. economic reports added to expectations for a rate hike before the year end, although equally positive data from Canada limited the local currency's losses.
USD/CAD hit 1.3006 during early U.S. trade, the pair's highest since March 2009; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2962.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2905, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.3063.
Data on Friday showed that the U.S. consumer price index rose 0.3% in June, in line with expectations and after a 0.4% gain the previous month. On a yearly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1% in June, in line with market expectations.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.2% last month, in line with expectations and after an uptick of 0.1% in May.
A separate report showed that U.S. housing starts rose 9.8% to 1.174 million units in June from a revised total of 1.069 million units the previous month. Analysts had expected housing starts to increase by 6.2% last month.
U.S. building permits rose 7.4% to 1.343 million units last month from 1.250 million units in May, confounding expectations for a 11.8% drop.
The data came after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's two-day testimony before U.S. Congress left investors believing that interest rates will be raised later this year.
In Canada, data showed that consumer prices rose 0.2% in June, in line with expectations and after an increase of 0.6% the previous month. On a yearly basis, consumer prices increased by 1.0% last month, in line with market expectations.
Core consumer prices, which exclude the eight most volatile items, were flat in June, compared to expectations for a 0.1% slip and after a 0.4% gain in May.
The loonie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CAD at 1.4082.
Euro zone ministers agreed on Thursday to give Greece a €7 billion bridging loan from a European Union-wide fund to keep its finances afloat until a bailout is approved.
The loan was expected to be confirmed on Friday by all EU member states.
The news came after the European Central Bank increased its emergency lending to Greek banks by €900 million and added that it is operating under the assumption that Greece will remain in the euro zone.