The Canadian dollar closed slightly lower against the greenback on Thursday, with many traders selling to lock in gains on long positions after the currency soared to a 3-1/2 year high earlier in the day. The Canadian unit jumped as high as C$0.9455 to the US dollar, or $1.0576, early in the session, the highest level since November 2007.
The move was part of broad-based decline in the US currency that took it close to an all-time trough against major currencies. But the Canadian dollar pared gains throughout the day, with traders moving to close out positions ahead of the Good Friday/Easter holiday long weekend.
"You had a really good push down in broad US dollar rates for the week and obviously people are going, 'That's it, I'm booking my profits and going home for a very long weekend,'" said John Curran, senior vice president at CanadianForex. "The market has set itself up for further US dollar weakness ... but it's probably going to be overdone in the short term." The Canadian dollar finished at C$0.9537 to the US dollar, or $1.0485, weaker than the C$0.9533 to the US dollar North American close on Wednesday.