Forex - USD/CAD surges to 13-day high as crude oil tumbles

Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar extended early gains against its Canadian counterpart on Thursday, surging to a 13-day high as crude oil, Canada’s largest export, tumbled after data showing U.S. initial jobless claims jumped to an eight-month high.

USD/CAD hit 0.9686 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since April 18; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9657, advancing 0.67%.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.9566, the days low and resistance at 0.9728, the high of March 31.

The Department of Labor said that the number of people filing for new jobless claims in the week ending April 30 rose by 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474K, from an upwardly revised 431K in the preceding week. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall to 400K.

Following the data, crude oil for delivery in June tumbled 2.85% on the New York Mercantile Exchange, to trade at USD105.81 a barrel, after peaking at USD109.35 earlier in the day.

Separately, official data showed that the number of new building permits issued in Canada surged unexpectedly in March.

Meanwhile, the loonie was up against the euro, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.26% to hit 1.4184.

Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak while Canada was to publish its Ivey PMI.