Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, re-approaching a recent two-month peak as upbeat U.S. economic reports added to hopes for a rate hike before the end of the year.
USD/CAD hit 1.3338 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3318, easing up 0.10%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3242, the low of November 19 and resistance at 1.3437, the high of November 23 and a two-month high.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Wednesday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 21 declined by 12,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 272,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that durable goods orders jumped by 3.0% last month, easily surpassing forecasts for 1.5%.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 0.5% in October, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.3%.
The upbeat data added to expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates next month.
Data also showed that U.S. personal spending inched up 0.1% last month, missing expectations for a 0.3% gain.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD sliding 0.38% to 1.4106.
Market sentiment weakened after news on Tuesday that Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border. Ankara claimed the SU-24 warplane had entered Turkish airspace, but Moscow has rejected those claims.
Responding to the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the downing "a stab in the back," and warned it would have serious consequences for the Russian-Turkish relationship.