Investing.com - Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, as positive U.S. jobless claims data lent support to the greenback and as declining oil prices continued to weigh on the commodity-related Canadian currency.
USD/CAD hit 1.4013 during early U.S. trade, the pair's highest since February 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3969, gaining 0.33%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3816, Wednesday's low and resistance at 1.4103, the high of February 3.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 6 decreased by 16,000 to 269,000 from the previous week's total of 285,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 4,000 to 281,000 last week.
The greenback had come under pressure after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicatied that further rate hikes could be delayedh.
In testimony before a congressional committee on Wednesday, Yellen said there are good reasons to believe the U.S. will stay on a path of moderate growth that will allow the Fed to pursue "gradual" adjustments to monetary policy.
But she also acknowledged risks facing the U.S. economy from tightening financial conditions driven by falling stock prices and uncertainty over China.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar weakened as oil prices fell to a three-week low below $27 a barrel on Thursday.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD advancing 0.85% to 1.5860.
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