Canadian currency skidded to its lowest closing level in nearly a week on Friday, stung by US and Canadian jobs data that fell short of estimates and left investors with a reduced appetite for riskier assets. After reclaiming all of the post-jobs-data losses suffered during early stages of Friday's session, the Canadian currency ran into a fresh wave of selling heading into the close of the North American session.
The data was seen making it easier for the Bank of Canada to stick to its conditional pledge to hold its benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.25 percent until at least the end of June 2010. The Canadian dollar was unloaded early in the session after data showed Canada lost 43,200 jobs in October, which was more than even the gloomiest analyst had predicted.
It faced another bout of pressure when another piece of data released shortly after showed the US unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 10.2 percent in October. US data affects the Canadian currency as it offers insight into the strength of the US economic recovery, which is critical to Canada because of the tight economic ties between the two countries.
The Canadian dollar managed to briefly turn positive after the reports before sliding back to a session low of C$1.0781 to the US dollar or 92.76 US cents. The Canadian dollar closed at C$1.0753 to the US dollar, or 93.00 US cents, down from C$1.0658 to the US dollar, or 93.83 US cents, at Thursday's close.