The Canadian dollar declined against most major currencies on Friday as investors remain concerned over the outlook of Federal Reserve's bond purchase program following upbeat data on U.S. weekly jobless claims, showing recovery in labor market.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected to 323,000 in the week ended November 16th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, with claims falling to their lowest level in over a month.
The data came a day after the release of Federal Reserve's minutes of October meeting, which indicated that the committee could decide to slow the pace of purchases at one of its next few meetings, if economic conditions warrant.
Traders await Canada's consumer price inflation and retail sales reports due later in the day.
The retail sales are seen rising to 0.4 percent in September on month, after advancing 0.2 percent in August.
Meanwhile, the CPI is forecast to show an annual increase of 0.9 percent in October, compared to 1.1 percent gain a month earlier.
The loonie slipped to 1.0551 against the greenback for the first time since September 3. This is down by 0.3 percent from Thursday's closing value of 1.0521. On the downside, the loonie may seek support around the 1.07 area.
The loonie reached 1.4238 against the euro, its lowest level so far in this month. The next probable support for the loonie is seen around the 1.44 level.
The loonie declined to 95.72 against the yen, moving away from an early Asian session's high of 96.36. Further weakness may lead the loonie to test support at the 94.6 mark.
