TORONTO: Canada's dollar closed slightly firmer on Friday, with traders shrugging off tepid domestic jobs data and focusing on upcoming efforts by European policymakers to plan a rescue for Spain's troubled banking sector.
Senior European Union and German officials said the single currency bloc's deputy finance ministers would hold a conference call on Saturday morning to discuss Spain's request for an aid package for its ailing banks.
"The market is still a little bit unsure about what's coming down next after this week's trade," said Steve Butler, director of foreign exchange trading at Scotiabank.
Butler said the market was nervous about what might happen with Spain over the weekend. Concerns include who might be able to provide a bailout, and whether the IMF will have to be involved.
"Spain is still a pretty big unknown, because we don't know exactly what the ask is," said Mark Frey, chief market strategist at Cambridge Mercantile Group. "We don't know what the dollar value is of what we're looking at, and how it's going to be funded."
JOBS REPORT OVERSHADOWED
Concerns about Europe's debt crisis overshadowed Canadian employment data that typically sets the direction of the currency. The report showed Canada's jobs bonanza came to an abrupt halt in May, with a negligible employment gain of 7,700 new hires.
Still, the weaker-than-forecast report brought more relief than trepidation to jittery investors, who saw it as evidence the recovery is intact despite a worsening global backdrop.
"While the details are slightly disappointing, the fact that Canada is still churning out job gains is the big story here, so I don't see why this would have any lasting impact on the Canadian dollar," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Following the data releases, the currency briefly touched a session low of C$1.0358, but quickly recovered to trade at the same level it was at before the report.
Canada's dollar closed at C$1.0270, or 97.37 US cents, barely changed from Thursday's close at C$1.0279 or 97.29 US cents.
Porter said he thought the one month of data would not affect the longer-term outlook for the Bank of Canada's monetary policy.
The Bank of Canada joined the European Central Bank in holding rates on Tuesday, but the tone of its statement signaled that its next move would be a rate hike.
Canadian bond prices were mostly higher or little changed. The two-year bond rose 10 Canadian cents to yield 1.041 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond was flat, yielding 1.814 percent.
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