C$ retreats after Friday's jobs data surge

The Canadian dollar edged down against its US counterpart on Monday, unwinding some of the gains logged in the previous session, but buoyant oil prices helped keep the currency near recent highs.

At 9:52 a.m. EST (1352 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% lower at 1.2553 to the greenback, or 79.66 US cents.

The loonie had risen 0.3% on Friday after data showed Canada added far more jobs than expected in March, bringing employment to within 1.5% of pre-pandemic levels.

Investors' expectation for a continued rise in US Treasury yields has been supportive of the greenback, helping keep the Canadian dollar from breaking above the three-year high of $1.2361 touched in mid-March.

"Friday's stellar jobs data should not be far from investors' minds and while we expect some of the jump in jobs to be unwound this month as a result of Ontario's lockdown moves, the trend in jobs and progress on access to vaccines should provide policy makers with enough confidence in the outlook to at least signal a move towards tapering asset purchases at the April 21st policy decision," Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, said in a note.

"We look for the Canadian dollar to remain better supported on dips and to make a bit more progress in the short run back towards a $1.24 handle," Osborne said.

On Monday, a rise in the price of oil, one of Canada's main exports, helped the loonie fend off deeper losses against its US counterpart.

Canadian government bond yields were modestly higher across the curve, with the 10-year trading at 1.518%, not far from its close on Friday at 1.5%.