Investing.com - The U.S. dollar dropped against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, after the release of disappointing U.S. jobless claims data and a positive report on Canadian retail sales.
USD/CAD hit 1.3248 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s lowest since Tuesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3250, sliding 0.64%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3201, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3348, Wednesday’s high.
The U.S. Department of Labor saying that initial jobless claims in the week ending June 17 increased by 3,000 to 241,000 from the previous week’s total of 238,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 240,000 last week.
At the same time, Statistics Canada said retail sales rose 0.8% in April, beating expectations for a 0.2% uptick. Retail sales gained 0.5% in March, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.7% increase.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, increased by 1.5% in April, compared to expectations for a 0.7% gain.
The commodity-related Canadian dollar also benefited from a rebound in oil prices, also ongoing concerns over a global supply glut were expected to limit gains.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD declining 0.75% to 1.4780.