Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, re-approaching a one-month peak despite disappointing U.S. jobless claims data, as markets still awaited additional U.S. economic reports due later in the trading session.
USD/CAD hit 1.2242 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2222, adding 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2130, the low of May 19 and resistance at 1.2329, the high of April 16.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 16 rose by 10,000 to 274,000 from the previous week's total of 264,000.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 271,000 last week.
The data came after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve's April meeting did little to alter expectations that the central bank will hold off on raising rates until later this year, with most officials believing that a June rate hike would be premature.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday’s U.S. inflation data and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for fresh indications on how the economy is performing.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD gaining 0.30% to 1.3586.
The single currency found support after data showed that the preliminary reading of the French composite purchasing managers' index rose to 51.0 up from 50.6 in April, moving further above the 50 level which separates expansion and contraction.
But activity in Germany, the euro area’s largest economy slowed to a five month low, adding to concerns that economic growth is losing momentum
The preliminary euro zone composite PMI slid to a three month low of 53.4, down from 53.9 in April.
Greek debt concerns also weighed after a government official warned on Wednesday that Athens will be unable to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund due on June 5 if a cash-for-reforms deal with its international lenders is not reached by then.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on existing home sales and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.