US dollar was almost unchanged against its Canadian counterpart on Monday in expectation of the service sector activity report out of the United States and amid uncertainty over the future of FEDs asset purchasing program.
USD/CAD reached a session low at 1.0379 during the early phase of US trade, after which consolidation followed at 1.0388. Support was expected at August 2nd low, 1.0337, while resistance was to be met at July 18th high, 1.0438.
The greenback was put under pressure after on Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States said that employers added a lesser number of jobs than projected in the month of July. Non-Farm Payrolls indicator increased by 162 000 in July, while preliminary estimates pointed an increase by 184 000 jobs. June’s result was revised down to 188 000 from 195 000 previously. On the other hand, a separate report showed that unemployment rate in the United States decreased by 0.2% to 7.4% in July, reaching its lowest level since December 2008.
Market participants were eyeing the US ISM non-manufacturing report for clues whether economy would continue to gain strength. Preliminary estimates pointed that the index will improve and reach a value of 53.1 in July from 52.2 in June.
Meanwhile, Canadian dollar was trading higher against the euro, as EUR/CAD cross erased 0.30% to 1.3764.