Investing.com - The U.S. dollar slid lower against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, as disappointing U.S. jobless claims data weighed on the greenback, while climbing oil prices lent support to the commodity-related Canadian currency.
USD/CAD hit 1.3361 during early U.S. trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3365, declining 0.53%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3352, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 1.3480, Tuesday’s high.
The U.S. Department of Labor said that initial jobless claims in the week ending November 26 increased by 17,000 to 268,000 from the previous week’s total of 251,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by just 2,000 to 253,000 last week.
Separately, the dollar paused after strengthening broadly on Wednesday when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached an agreement on an oil output cut aimed at tackling global oversupply and shoring up prices.
Expectations for higher oil prices added to U.S. inflation expectations, which have already been boosted by prospects for increased fiscal spending under the Trump administration.
News of the OPEC deal sent oil prices up over 9% on Wednesday and they continued to climb on Thursday, lending broad support to the Canadian dollar.
The loonie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD down 0.34% at 1.4177.