The Canadian dollar fell for a seventh straight session against its US counterpart on Thursday, marking its longest daily losing streak since January, as the gap between Canadian and US bond yields continued to widen.
The Canadian dollar weakened by 0.1% to C$1.3720 per US dollar, or 72.89 US cents, after touching its weakest level since April 16 at C$1.3737 during the session.
Kevin Ford, FX and macro strategist at Convera, said the rise in USD/CAD to a four-week high was mainly driven by the relative momentum divergence between the two economies.
He added that hotter-than-expected US inflation data reinforced market bets that US interest rates will remain elevated for longer, while Canada lacked strong economic data this week capable of offsetting the impact of last Fridays weak employment figures.
The US dollar index continued to strengthen against a basket of major currencies after economic data supported expectations that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates this year.
The spread between US and Canadian two-year government bond yields widened to around 105 basis points in favor of US Treasuries, the largest gap since January 22, boosting the attractiveness of the US dollar as the higher-yielding currency.
Data released Friday showed the Canadian economy lost 17,700 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate rose to a six-month high of 6.9%, signaling continued weakness in the labor market amid ongoing trade uncertainty.
This uncertainty also weighed on Canadas housing market, as home sales rose only slightly by 0.7% in April compared with March following a weak start to the month, while prices edged lower, according to data released Thursday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Meanwhile, oil prices one of Canadas key exports provided some support to the Canadian dollar, rising around 0.6% to $101.65 per barrel.
Canadian government bond yields declined across the curve, with the 10-year yield falling 4 basis points to 3.532%, trading near the midpoint of its range since the beginning of the month.