USD/CAD pair on session highs after US and Canadian data

US dollar advanced to session highs against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday after strong US employment data and trade balance results from the United States and Canada.

USD/CAD cross reached a session high at 1.0567 at 13:23 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 1.0555. The pair was up by 0.11% for the day. Support was likely to be found at July 2nd low, 1.0490, while resistance was to be encountered at July 2nd high and a 21-month high, 1.0576.

Earlier on Wednesday it became clear that the private sector in the United States added 188 000 more jobs in June. Experts had projected an increase to 160 000 job positions, while in May economy added 134 000 jobs. Additionally, the number of people, who filed for unemployment assistance dropped in the week, ended on 28.06.2013, by 5 000 to 343 000. Preliminary estimates showed a smaller drop to 345 000, from 348 000 claims, registered in the previous week. In the mean time, the deficit on US trade balance unexpectedly increased to 45.027 billion USD in May from a deficit of 40.149 billion USD in April, which was a revision up from 40.294 billion USD previously.

Meanwhile, Canada registered a smaller deficit on its trade balance in May, as import shrank twice as much as export. Import figure was the lowest since July 2012. Deficit was at the amount of 0.303 billion CAD in May, decreasing from 0.951 billion CAD in April. Preliminary estimates pointed a deficit of 0.700 billion CAD. Canadian export contracted by 1.6% to 39.34 billion CAD in May due to weaker sales in the automobile sector as well as lower prices of gold and silver. On the other hand, import dropped even more, by 3.2% to 39.64 billion CAD, the first month of decline in five months. Ultimately, the surplus, as a result of the trading partnership between Canada and the United States, has expanded to 3.45 billion CAD in May from 3.41 billion CAD during the preceding month. Export fell by 1.6%, while import – by 2.0% during May.

Canadian dollar was lower against the British pound, as GBP/CAD pair rose by 0.77% to 1.6109 at 14:30 GMT. CAD/JPY cross, on the other hand, erased 1.05%, falling down to 94.46 at 14:31 GMT.