Loonie heads higher on U.S. jobless claims, Chinese export and import data

TORONTO – The Canadian dollar saw an uptick Thursday, pushed upwards by strong export and import data from the U.S. that eased some concerns over the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

The loonie climbed 0.08 of a cent to 96.02 cents US before stock markets opened.

China reported that exports were up 5.1 per cent from a year earlier, while imports jumped 10.9 per cent

In the U.S., unemployment aid applications were up 5,000 to 333,000 in July, a sign that signals steady job gains.

For the past few months, concerns have been raised about when the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin pulling back on its monetary stimulus by tapering off its current $85-billion bond-buying program.

Signs that this will happen sooner rather than later have prompted markets to get nervous any time the Fed gives away clues on the timing of this pullback.

Comments from Fed Reserve officials have been in focus this week after two regional presidents said the central bank could make its moves to slow stimulus in the shorter term, though the exact timing was left to interpretation.

The Fed won’t make an official statement until next month, which has put extra weigh on more off-the-cuff remarks.

The bank has previously said that it won’t make any moves until there are clear signs that the U.S. economy is faring better.

Meanwhile, in commodities, December bullion gained $6.60 to US$1,291.90 an ounce, while the September copper contract jumped 10 cents to US$3.27. The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved down 49 cents to US$103.88 a barrel.