Loonie Falls After Disappointing Canada Jobs Data

The Canadian dollar declined against its key counterparts in the European session on Friday, as a data showed that the economy unexpectedly shed jobs in April.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that the employment declined by 1,100 jobs in April, after rising by 32,300 jobs in March.

Economists had expected the employment to increase by 20,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate remained at 5.8 percent, matching expectations.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices remained at 4-year highs on reports that Saudi Arabia may end their supply quota plan with fellow OPEC members and Russia in the wake of the Iran sanctions issue.

Supply disruptions from Iran could result in another significant jump in oil prices, to the benefit of the booming U.S. shale oil industry.

The loonie rose against its most major rivals in the Asian session amid rising appetite, as tepid U.S. inflation data eased worries about a faster pace of rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Pulling away from an early high of 85.87 against the yen, the loonie edged down to 85.52. Next key support for the loonie is likely seen around the 84.00 level.

Following a 3-week high of 1.2729 hit at 8:15 am ET, the loonie reversed direction and weakened to 1.2775 against the greenback. The loonie is likely to find support around the 1.29 level.

Data from the Labor Department showed that U.S. import prices increased less than expected in April, although the export prices grew stronger than expected.

The Labor Department said import prices rose by 0.3 percent in April after edging down by a revised 0.2 percent in March.

The loonie slipped to a 2-day low of 1.5259 against the euro, after having advanced to 1.5178 at 2:30 am ET. If the loonie continues its fall, 1.54 is possibly seen as its next support level.

The loonie reversed from an early high of 0.9604 against the aussie, declining to a 2-day low of 0.9652. The next possible support for the loonie is seen around the 0.98 mark.

Looking ahead, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for May is scheduled for release shortly.