Canadian Dollar Rallies After Upbeat Jobs Data

The Canadian dollar spiked up against its major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as strong jobs data for February raised hopes for another rate hike by the Bank of Canada at its meeting next month.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that employment jumped by 336,600 jobs in February after falling by 200,100 jobs in January. Economists had expected employment to rise by 160,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in February from 6.5 percent in January, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to drop to 6.2 percent.

Sentiment lifted up following Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks suggesting positive developments in talks with Ukraine.

In a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin indicated about positive shifts in negotiations, but did not provide more details.

The loonie was up against the greenback, at a 4-day high of 1.2695. The loonie is likely to face resistance around the 1.25 level.

The loonie touched a 3-day high of 1.3940 against the euro, up from Thursday's close of 1.4005. On the upside, 1.36 is likely seen as its next resistance level.

Extending its early rally, the loonie approached 92.08 against the yen, which was its strongest level since January 12. If the loonie rises further, 94.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The loonie moved up to a 1-week high of 0.9300 against the aussie from yesterday's close of 0.9387. The loonie is seen finding resistance around the 0.92 level.