Canadian Dollar Climbs After Strong Jobs Data

The Canadian dollar firmed against its most major rivals in the European session on Friday, following the release of a report showing a stronger than expected Canadian job growth in June.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that employment rose by 230,700 jobs in June following a decrease of 68,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to grow by 195,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in June from 8.2 percent in May. Economists had expected the employment rate to fall by 7.7 percent.

The loonie recovered from its prior lows of 1.2557 against the greenback and 87.44 against the yen, gaining to 1.2471 and 88.22, respectively. The loonie is likely to challenge resistance around 1.22 against the greenback and 90.00 against the yen.

The loonie reached as high as 1.4794 against the euro, up from a low of 1.4864 seen at 9:45 pm ET. If the loonie rises further, 1.46 is likely seen as its next resistance level.

The loonie, though, remained lower at 0.9341 against the aussie. This followed a 3-day high of 0.9297 logged at 9:15 pm ET. The next likely support for the currency is seen around the 0.96 level.