Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was little changed against the Canadian dollar on Thursday as sentiment on the greenback was supported by indications that the political deadlock in Washington may be nearing a breakthrough.
USD/CAD hit 1.0419 during early U.S. trade, the highest since September 6; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0394, inching up 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0352, Wednesday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.0430.
Hopes that the partial U.S. government shutdown may soon end received a boost from news that House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the shutdown began later on Thursday.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place.
Demand for the dollar was also underpinned after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.
The greenback shrugged off a report by the Department of Labor showing that U.S. initial jobless claims rose to a six-month high of 374,000 last week, an increase of 66,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 308,000. The government shutdown accounted for 15,000 claims, the report said.
In Canada, data released on Thursday showed that the new housing price index inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in August, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was slightly higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD slipping 0.14% to 1.4035.
USD/CAD hit 1.0419 during early U.S. trade, the highest since September 6; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0394, inching up 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0352, Wednesday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.0430.
Hopes that the partial U.S. government shutdown may soon end received a boost from news that House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the shutdown began later on Thursday.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place.
Demand for the dollar was also underpinned after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.
The greenback shrugged off a report by the Department of Labor showing that U.S. initial jobless claims rose to a six-month high of 374,000 last week, an increase of 66,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 308,000. The government shutdown accounted for 15,000 claims, the report said.
In Canada, data released on Thursday showed that the new housing price index inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in August, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was slightly higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD slipping 0.14% to 1.4035.