Canadian Dollar Falls on Weak Oil Prices, Despite Upbeat Jobs Report

The  Canadian dollar today fell against the  US dollar following the  release of  mixed Canadian jobs data and  the  upbeat US non-farm payrolls report. The  USD/CAD currency pair’s rally was also fueled by  the decline in global crude oil prices, which dragged the  commodity-linked loonie lower.
The  USD/CAD currency pair today spiked to  a  daily low of  1.3279 following the  employment reports from the  US and  Canada before rallying back to  its daily high of  1.3321 and  was near this high at  the  time of  writing.
The  currency pair traded sideways during the  Asian session before rallying higher in  the  early European session. The  loonie’s weakness was mostly driven by  weak oil prices as  tracked by  the  West Texas Intermediate, which hit a  low of  50.08 earlier today. The depressed oil prices were triggered by  Russia’s opposition to  the  new oil output cuts recommended by  OPEC+ on  Thursday. The  release of  Canada’s labour force survey for  January by  Statistics Canada triggered the  loonie’s brief spike. The  unemployment rate came in  at  5.5% beating consensus estimates by  0.1%, while the  new jobs created were 34,500 versus the  expected 15,000 jobs.
The  simultaneous release of  the  US non-farm payroll report for  January by  the  Bureau of  Labor Statistics meant that the  loonie’s rally was short-lived. The  US added 225,000 new jobs versus the  expected 160,000 jobs, while average hourly earnings rose 3.1% beating consensus estimates set at  3.0%. However, the  US unemployment rate missed expectations.
The  currency pair’s performance over the  upcoming weekend is likely to  be affected by  oil prices and  geopolitical events.
The  USD/CAD currency pair was trading at  1.3305 as  at  16:19 GMT having rallied from a  low of  1.3279. The  CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at  82.50, having dropped from a  high of  82.77.

If you have any questions, comments, or opinions regarding the Canadian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.