The Canadian dollar today rallied higher against its US counterpart following the release of upbeat Canadian jobs data, versus the disappointing US nonfarm payrolls data. The USD/CAD dropped to new weekly lows on the jobs data as well as the higher global crude oil prices, which also favored the loonie.
The USD/CAD currency pair today dropped from a high of 1.3400 to a low of 1.3249 following the jobs data from both countries.
The currency pair traded in a tight consolidative range from the Asian session up to the early American session, as investors waited for the crucial jobs data. The release of the Canadian labour force survey for November by Statistics Canada triggered the massive decline as the print was better than expected. The country added 94,100 jobs in November as opposed to the consensus estimate of 11,000 new jobs. Canada’s unemployment rate also fell to a 40-year low of 5.6%, which was a drop of 0.2% from the previous figure. The higher crude oil prices witnessed today also contributed to the loonie’s rally as the West Texas Intermediate hit a high of 54.18.
The release of the US nonfarm payrolls by the Bureau of Labor Statistics also contributed to the pair’s decline, as the country added 155,000 jobs in November as compared to the expected 200,000 jobs. However, the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%.
The currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to be affected by geopolitical events and oil prices over the weekend.
The USD/CAD currency pair was trading at 1.3285 as at 15:17 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.3400. The CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at 84.78 having risen from a low of 84.09.
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