Forex - USD/CAD hits 3-month low as Greece reaches deal

Forexpros - The U.S. dollar slid to a three-month low against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that Greece had agreed on a package of austerity measures, paving the way for a second bailout.

USD/CAD hit 0.9926 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s lowest since October 31; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9940, shedding 0.19%.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.9890, the low of October 27 and resistance at 0.9979, the session high.

The greenback weakened broadly after Mr. Draghi said the Greece’s prime minister had informed him that an agreement on the conditions set by international creditors in exchange for a new bailout worth EUR130 billion had been reached.

The deal was to be discussed at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the day.

Risk appetite was also boosted by official data showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to an almost four-year low last week.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000, beating expectations for a decline to 370,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised up to 373,000 from 367,000.

Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 13 of the past 15 weeks.

The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/CAD dipping 0.05% to hit 1.3203.

Investors were looking ahead to statement by Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos outlining the details of the agreement later in the day.