The Canadian dollar strengthened against its major opponents in the European session on Friday, after a data showed that the nation’s employment increased for a third consecutive month, while jobless rate dropped to its lowest level since 1976.
Data from Statistics Canada showed that Canadian employment grew much higher than forecast in December.
The employment rose by 79,000 jobs in December, out pacing forecasts for an increase of 3,500 jobs. This follows a job growth of 79,500 in November.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent, the lowest since comparable figures were available forty years ago.
Economists were looking for a rise to 6.0 percent.
In the previous month, the jobless rate stood at 5.9 percent.
Meanwhile, separate data showed that Canada’s merchandise trade deficit widened more than forecast in November.
The trade deficit widened to C$2.5 billion in November from C$1.6 billion in October. This was much higher than the C$1.13 deficit forecast by economists.
Imports rose 5.8 percent and exports rose 3.7 percent.
The loonie was trading mixed in the Asian session. While it rose against the aussie and the yen, it dropped against the greenback. Against the euro, it held steady.
The loonie advanced to 1.4881 against the euro, its strongest since November 14, 2017. Continuation of the loonie’s uptrend may see it challenging resistance around the 1.47 region.
Flash data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone inflation eased slightly in December on slower growth in energy prices.
Inflation eased marginally to 1.4 percent in December from 1.5 percent in November.
The loonie that closed Thursday’s deals at 1.2487 against the greenback strengthened to more than a 3-month high of 1.2355. The next possible resistance for the loonie is seen around the 1.21 mark.
Data from the Labor Department showed that employment in the U.S. increased much less than anticipated in the month of December.
The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 148,000 jobs in December after spiking by an upwardly revised 252,000 jobs in November.
The loonie spiked up to more than a 3-week high of 0.9712 against the aussie and near a 4-month high of 91.58 against the yen, off its early lows of 0.9828 and 90.23, respectively. If the loonie extends rise, 0.96 and 93.00 are possibly seen as its next resistance levels against the aussie and the yen, respectively.
Looking ahead, U.S. ISM non-manufacturing survey for December and factory and durable goods orders for November, as well as Canada Ivey PMI for December are due shortly.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
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