Investing.com - The U.S. dollar trimmed gains against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, after downbeat U.S. jobless claims data, but the greenback was still supported as investors prefered to focus on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting.
USD/CAD pulled back from 1.3535, the pair’s highest since December 29to hit 1.3507 during early U.S. trade, still up 0.11%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3395, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.3566, the high of December 29.
The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims increased by 20,000 to 243,000 in the week ending March 4 from the previous week’s total of 223,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 12,000 to 235,000 last week.
But the greenback remained supported after U.S. payroll processor ADP reported on Wednesday that the private sector added 298,000 jobs in February, well above forecasts for an increase of 190,000. It was the largest increase in private sector hiring since March 2006.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s government employment report for February, where a strong reading would cement expectations for a rate hike from the Fed next week.
In Canada, data on Thursday showed that the new housing price index rose 0.1% in January, in line with expectations and after a 0.1% uptick the previous month.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD climbing 0.65% to 1.4315.