TORONTO - Stronger-than-expected November employment data pushed the Canadian dollar up almost half a cent Friday, as the loonie closed the week up 0.40 of a U.S. cent to 99.49 cents.
The currency rose about two-thirds of a U.S. cent to 99.74 cents after Statistics Canada said the economy created 43,000 jobs during November -- about five times the number expected -- before settling down somewhat by mid-afternoon as oil prices continued to slip.
"We had a good day today, and once the dust has settled now at the end of the week, I don't think we had a bad week,'' said Steve Butler, Scotia Capital Markets' director of foreign exchange trading.
The loonie had generally been moving lower for the past month since it hit a recent all time high of 110.3 cents US on Nov. 7 as oil prices started to recede from levels approaching US$100 a barrel.
Crude oil prices for January delivery closed down $1.95, or 2.2 per cent, at $88.28 a barrel after rebounding from an intraday low of $87.07.
Oil prices had supported the loonie Thursday as the January crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange charged ahead $2.74 to US$90.23 a barrel.
Also, speculation grew over the past month that the Bank of Canada would cut interest rates to protect the economy from the U.S. economic downturn.
On Tuesday, the central bank cut its key rate a quarter-point and analysts believe more cuts are in the offing.
"I do get the sense . . . that the bank's much more comfortable with the level of the currency, that it may inspire Canada to rebound a little bit,'' Butler said.
The downward trend in the currency started to reverse Thursday with a gain of six-tenths of a cent during the session.
Analysts said markets felt the sharp selloff of the currency over the past month had been overdone.
