VBCE Daily Foreign Exchange Update for Friday, Dec. 2, 2016

USDCAD spot rate: 1.3290 - 1.3295 (as at 7:39am PST)

Technical Support / Resistance:

Key Economic Data Releases:

- Canada net employment change: 10,700 (exp. -20,000 / prev. 43,900)

- Canada unemployment rate: 6.8% (exp. 7.0% / prev. 7.0%)

- U.S. non-farm payrolls: 178,000 (exp. 175,000 / prev. 142,000)

- U.S. unemployment rate: 4.6% (exp. 4.9% / prev. 4.9%)

- U.S. average hourly earnings: -0.1% (exp. 0.2% / prev. 0.4%)

Key Event Calendar:

Yesterday, USDCAD traded from 1.3440 down to 1.3300 before bouncing to hold a 1.3310 – 1.3335 range for the balance of the day. The CAD was the best performing currency driven higher by a two day 15% surge in oil prices. The pairing dropped to 1.3256, the lowest level since October 21^st after the 5:30am release of both Canadian and U.S. employment data. Both data sets were mixed but the initial reaction was broad-based USD weakness followed by a recovery which took USDCAD back up to 1.3315. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a 9 year low but wage inflation data was soft. Canada surprised markets with another month of job gains but these were entirely part-time. (8,700 full time jobs were lost on top of the 23,100 full time jobs lost in October) The unemployment rate ticked down by 0.2% but this was offset by a 0.2% decline in the participation rate. USDCAD has since dropped back to 1.3267 where it has found some support and is currently holding in a 1.3280 – 1.3300 range. Currently, the TSX is up 0.19% while the DJIA is down 0.16%. EURCAD is down 0.15% trading between 1.4130 and 1.4230. GBPCAD is up 0.30% trading between 1.6723 and 1.6837. JPYCAD is up 0.40% trading between 0.01166 and 0.01171. Gold is up 0.76% trading between $1,166 and $1,178USD/oz., silver is up 1.80% trading between $16.33 and $16.77USD/oz., while oil is up 0.18% trading between $50.21 and $51.40.

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, FXStreet, RBC Capital Markets, Bank of Canada, U.S. Federal Reserve, CNBC, Forexlive, CME Group