The Canadian dollar rose against the greenback on Friday after a domestic jobs report that came in better than expected, while commodity prices pushed higher and offered further support. Domestic bond prices turned lower immediately after the jobs report, which is not expected to sway the Bank of Canada from its neutral policy stance.
The Canadian unit was at C$1.1765 to the US dollar, or 84.99 US cents, up from a pre-data level of C$1.1781 to the US dollar, or 84.88 US cents. The Canadian currency, which rose as high as C$1.1752 to the US dollar, or 85.09 US cents, after the data, closed at C$1.1798 to the US dollar, or 84.76 US cents, on Thursday.
The figures showed that the economy created 14,200 jobs in February, ahead of the median forecast of analysts in a Reuters poll who expected just 2,500 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent in January.
The two-year bond slipped 4 Canadian cents to C$100.53 to yield 3.927 percent, while the 10-year bond fell 14 Canadian cents to C$100.02 to yield 3.997 percent. The yield spread between the two-year and 10-year bond moved to 7.0 basis points from 7.6 at the previous close.