Investing.com - The U.S. dollar dropped against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. data, as investors locked in profits from the greenback’s recent gains and as rising oil prices lent support to the commodity-related Canadian currency.
USD/CAD hit 1.2920 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s lowest since May 18; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2922, sliding 0.75%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2834, the low of May 17 and resistance at 1.3134, Wednesday’s high.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 21 decreased by 10,000 to 268,000 from the previous week’s total of 278,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 3,000 to 275,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose 3.4% last month, compared to economists' expectations for an increase of 0.5%.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 0.4% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.3% gain.
But investors locked in profits from the greenback’s rally to six-week highs against its Canadian counterpart this week amid speculation the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as next month.
Meanwhile, oil prices moved sharply higher after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that crude oil inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels last week.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.27% to 1.4485.