Canadian dollar, ‘super-charged’ by jobs data, posts 1-month high

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar strengthened against its US counterpart on Friday to notch its biggest weekly advance in four months, driven by domestic data showing a faster pace of job gains and rising hopes of US stimulus that boosted Wall Street.

Canada added 378,200 jobs in September after an increase of 246,000 in the previous month, handily beating analyst expectations, as children returned to school and the economy continued to reopen from coronavirus shutdowns, Statistics Canada said.

"Accelerating job creation in Canada in September has super-charged the Canadian dollar" said Michael Goshko, corporate risk manager at Western Union Business Solutions.

Adding to support for the loonie, has been the move higher in equities and commodities in October, Goshko said.

Shares rose globally on Friday as expectations grew of a Democratic victory in US elections next month that could lead a big economic stimulus.

Canada sends about 75% of its exports to the United States, including oil, which gave back some of this week's strong rally after an oil worker strike in Norway ended. US crude oil futures settled 1.4% lower at $40.60 a barrel.

The Canadian dollar was trading 0.5% higher at 1.3131 to the greenback, or 76.16 US cents. The currency touched its strongest intraday level since Sept. 8 at 1.3111.

For the week, the loonie was up 1.3%, its biggest advance since early June.

Canadian government bond yields were mixed across a steeper curve, with the 10-year yield up about half a basis point at 0.629%. On Thursday, it touched its highest intraday in more than five weeks at 0.639%.

Canadian financial markets will be closed on Monday when Thanksgiving Day is observed.