Investing.com - The U.S. dollar pared gains and against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, re-approaching one-week lows after the release of a downbeat U.S. jobless claims report and as concerns over Donald Trump’s protectionist views persisted.
USD/CAD pulled away from 1.3131, the session high, to hit 1.3091 during early U.S. trade, still up 0.16%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3037, the low of January 17 and resistance at 1.3167, Wednesday’s high.
Investors were cautious after Trump on Wednesday ordered construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall and punishment for cities shielding illegal immigrants.
In addition, Trump was expected to sign an executive order in the coming days to block the entry of refugees from Syria and suspend the entry of any immigrants from Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and African countries.
The dollar has been under heavy pressure since Donald Trump’s inauguration last Friday amid concerns over a lack of clarity on his economic policies and fears that his protectionist trade stance could hit corporate profits and act as a drag on growth.
Markets seemed to shrug off a report by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims increased by 22,000 in the week ending January 21 to 259,000 from the previous week’s total of 237,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 13,000 last week.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD declining 0.46% to 1.3984.