Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was little changed close to two-week highs against the Canadian dollar on Monday, as last week’s unexpectedly weak employment report continued to weigh on the Canadian dollar.
USD/CAD touched highs of 1.0748, the most since June 25 and was last at 1.0730, unchanged for the day.
The pair was likely to find support at around the 1.0700 level and resistance at 1.0775.
The Canadian dollar weakened broadly on Friday after data showed that the country’s economy unexpectedly shed jobs in June.
Statistics Canada reported that the economy lost 9,400 jobs last month, compared to expectations for jobs growth of 20,000. The Canadian unemployment rate ticked up to 7.1% from 7.0% in May, against expectations of an unchanged reading.
The poor data fuelled expectations that the Bank of Canada will leave rates unchanged at 1.0% at its upcoming policy meeting on Wednesday and stick to its dovish stance on monetary policy.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, had rallied in recent weeks as economic reports indicated that the recovery was improving. The U.S. dollar struck its 2014 low of 1.0619 against the Canadian dollar on July 3.
The greenback’s gains were held in check ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the week.
Investors were awaiting fresh indications on the future direction of monetary policy after last week’s minutes of the Fed’s June meeting revealed little new information on when rates could start to increase.
Elsewhere Monday, EUR/CAD touched more than two-week highs of 1.4652, before retracing some of those gains to trade at 1.4616, just 0.07% higher for the day.