The Canadian dollar CADUSD weakened to a two-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data bolstered the greenback, but the move was limited as oil added to its recent gains.
The loonie was trading 0.2 per cent lower at 1.3575 to the U.S. dollar, or 73.66 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since Sept. 19 at 1.3591. For the week, the currency was down 0.5 per cent.
“There had simply been lots of bad news priced into the USD, increasing the risks that a string of good news will kick-start a sizeable correction, and evidence for that is emerging,” said Jayati Bharadwaj, a global FX strategist at TD Securities.
The U.S. dollar jumped to a seven-week high against a basket of major currencies after the jobs data led traders to reduce bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again by 50 basis points at its meeting in November.
The Canadian dollar “has been relatively shielded” to the U.S. dollar’s move compared to other major currencies due to higher oil prices, Bharadwaj said.
The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, extended its sharp gains this week as investors feared a wider Middle East conflict could disrupt crude flows. U.S. crude futures were up 1.5 per cent at $74.80 a barrel.
Canadian economic activity rebounded in September after contracting in the prior month, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index data showed. The seasonally adjusted index rose to 53.1 from 48.2 in August.
Canadian bond yields rose, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries, and the curve moved back into a state of inversion after a two-week period of normalization.
The 2-year climbed 14.3 basis points to 3.204 per cent, its highest level since Sept. 4, while it moved above the 10-year, which was trading 9.1 basis points higher at 3.187 per cent.