The Canadian dollar retraced its early gains against its major rivals in early New York deals on Friday, as the economy shed more jobs than forecasts in April.
Data from Statistics Canada showed that the number of employed people in Canada fell by 19,700 in April, well above a decline of 5,000 jobs forecast by economists. In the previous month, the economy had added 28,700 jobs.
The unemployment rate held steady at 6.8 percent for the third consecutive month. Economists were expecting an increase of 6.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the loonie’s slide was limited by solid jobs data from the U.S.
The U.S. economy created 223,000 new jobs in April, up sharply after a revised 85,000 gain in the prior month.
The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% from 5.5%, marking the lowest level since May 2008.
The loonie was trading firmer against most major currencies in the Asian session. The loonie was up against the euro, aussie and the yen but was steady against the greenback.
Retreating from an early 3-day high of 0.9521 against the aussie, the loonie edged down to 0.9621. The loonie is likely to challenge support around the 0.965 mark. The pair was trading at 0.9585 at yesterday’s close.
The loonie, having climbed to a 2-day high of 99.43 against the yen in early deals, retreated to 98.86. If the loonie continues slide, it may possibly find support surrounding the 98.00 area. At Thursday’s close, the pair ended deals at 98.67.
The loonie was trading lower at 1.3593 against the euro, following a 2-day rise to 1.3543 in the previous session. On the downside, 1.37 is possibly seen as the next support level for the loonie. The pair finished Thursday’s deals at 1.3652.
Data published by Destatis showed that Germany’s export and import growth exceeded expectations in March.
Exports grew 1.2 percent month-on-month in March, much faster than a 0.4 percent rise forecast by economists. But it was slightly slower than the 1.4 percent rise seen in February.
The loonie eased to 1.2144 against the greenback, from an early high of 1.2045, and was steady shortly thereafter. Next key support for the loonie may be eyed around the 1.22 region.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com