Daily foreign exchange rates for our top 10 currencies & Update #forex #Vancouver December 8, 2017

USDCAD spot rate: 1.2863 - 1.2868 (as at 7:28am PST)

Technical Support / Resistance:

Key Economic Data Releases:

- Canada housing starts: 252.2k (exp 221.0k / prev 222.7k)

- U.S. non-farm payrolls: 228,000 (exp 200,000 / prev 244,000)

- U.S. unemployment rate: 4.1% (exp 4.1% / prev 4.1%)

- U.S. average hourly earnings: 0.2% (exp 0.3% / prev -0.1%)

- U.S. consumer sentiment index: 96.8 (exp 99.2 / prev 98.5)

Event Calendar:

Yesterday, USDCAD climbed for the 2nd consecutive day from 1.2782 up to 1.2868, just shy of the recent Nov. 30^th high of 1.2908 and the Nov. 1st high of 1.2917. The pairing dipped to 1.2815 before climbing back to hold near 1.2850 for the balance of the session. USDCAD challenged yesterday's 1.2868 high a few times overnight before falling to 1.2830 on positive market sentiment and a 2% gain in oil prices. The pairing dipped to 1.2802 after the U.S. jobs data release. Headline data beat estimates but wage inflation remained weak yet again. USDCAD then climbed back to re-test today's high (and weekly high) at the 1.2870 level but has since eased lower towards 1.2850. Markets now turn the focus to next Wednesday's U.S. Fed interest rate announcement. It is widely expected that the Fed will raise the key rate to 1.50% from 1.25% but could convey a "pause" with regard to hikes in 2018 given recent comments from Fed members / concerns over low inflation. The previous Fed forecast suggests 4 hikes for 2018 but that could be trimmed to just 2-3 hikes. Currently, the TSX and the DJIA are up 0.40% and 0.14% respectively. EURCAD is unchanged trading between 1.5040 and 1.5140. GBPCAD is down 0.50% trading between 1.7180 and 1.7380. JPYCAD is unchanged trading between 0.01130 and 0.01136. Gold is down 0.13% trading between $1,243 and $1,252USD/oz., silver is up 0.25% trading between $15.70 and $15.89USD/oz., while oil is up 1% trading between $56.56 and $57.76.

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