Canadian dollar beats G10 peers, bolstered by jobs 'boom'

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar edged higher against its broadly stronger US counterpart on Friday, with the loonie clawing back its earlier decline after domestic data showed the economy adding far more jobs than expected in March.

Driven by the continued recovery across sectors hit by January shutdowns, Canada added 303,100 jobs in March, triple analyst expectations and the second straight month of robust gains.

"Canada's labour market continued to make noise in March. There was another boom in hiring," Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, said in a note.

Still, some of the job gains could be reversed in the coming months after restrictions were tightened to battle a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Mendes said.

The pandemic and its damaging impact on women has underlined the need for a national childcare plan, which would also help the economic recovery, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday. She will unveil details in her April 19 budget.

The Canadian dollar was the only G10 currency to advance against the greenback, trading 0.1% higher at 1.2549, or 79.69 US cents. For the week, the loonie was on track to gain 0.2%.

The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was pressured by rising supplies from major producers. US crude prices were down 0.3% at $59.42 a barrel, while the US dollar gained ground against a basket of major currencies, supported by higher US Treasury yields.

Canadian government bond yields also climbed and the curve steepened, with the 10-year up 7.6 basis points at 1.537%.