Forex - USD/CAD steady near two-month highs

The U.S. dollar was steady close to two-month highs against the Canadian dollar on Monday after upbeat U.S. data last week indicated that the U.S. economic recovery is deepening.

During early U.S. trade USD/CAD edged up 0.06% to 1.0483 from Friday’s close of 1.0476, holding below Friday’s two month high of 1.0502.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.0444, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.0502.

The greenback strengthened across the board after official data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, significantly higher than the 125,000 expected by economists. 

The report came on the heels of data showing that the U.S. economy expanded by a larger-than-forecast 2.8% in the third quarter.

The robust data indicated that the U.S. economy shrugged off the impact of the government shutdown and raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve may start winding down its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program as soon as its next monthly meeting in December.

In Canada, official data on Friday showed that the economy added 132,000 jobs in October, slightly below expectations for an increase of 140,000. The Canadian unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9%, compared to expectations for an uptick to 7.0%.

The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.37% to 1.4052, up from Friday’s close of 1.3999.