The Canadian Dollar finally reversed the trend and rose against its major counterpart, the US Dollar.
Since April 29, the Loonie was declining, dragged down by falling commodity prices.
After the release of employment data indicating a gain in employment in Canada, USDCAD spiked down 23 pips from 0.9624 to 0.9602 within a minute, then continued to decline to as far down as 0.9572.
Statistics Canada reported that Canadian employers added a net 58,300 jobs in April after a decrease of 1,500 in the previous month. This was actually far more than the expected 22,500. The jobless rate also fell to 7.6 percent from the prior 7.7 percent. It was predicted to remain unchanged.
“Blowout number,” Blake Jespersen, director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal, said by phone from Toronto on the gain in Canadian employment. “If commodity prices can stabilize, I think the market will key in on this number and continue to take the loonie higher.”
USDCAD spiked down 23 pips from 0.9624 to 0.9602 within a minute, then continued to decline to as far down as 0.9572.
The Loonie also extended gains after US payrolls were released better than expected for the month.
The US department of Labour reported that payrolls in the U.S. increased by 244,000 workers last month after a revised advance of 221,000 in March, the Labor Department reported. The median forecast by a Reuters survey was for an increase of 186,000. The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 9 percent from last month’s 8.8 percent.
