By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- The Canadian dollar traded little changed against the USD today, managing to holding its own against the dollar as risk-sentiment in equities rebounded.
The Canadian dollar was also supported by strong domestic economic data, Ivey Purchasing Manager Index for September came in well above expectations.
Meanwhile, the US dollar was moderated against a basket of major currencies. Despite better than expected Initial Jobless Claims, traders are looking ahead to tomorrow's non-farm payrolls, which are forecast to decline from 187K to 170K.
Canadian labour market data is also due tomorrow, with forecasts for net change in employment seen coming in at 20,000, declining from roughly 49,000.
On a technical level for the pair, analysts at FX Street note, "Swing points continue to etch in higher highs for the USD/CAD, but the pair looks set to begin an interim consolidation pattern as investors try to pick a direction moving forward."
"Recent lows have a technical support zone building out from 1.3700 to 1.3720, with the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) rising to 1.3680."
Looking ahead for the pair, a Reuters poll shows that expectations are for the the loonie to strengthen 2.5% to 1.34 per U.S. dollar in three months, as per a median forecast of 41 foreign exchange analysts.
"Our forecast is that the Canadian dollar is undervalued relative to the U.S. dollar based on its long-term fundamentals and it should appreciate from here," said Jay Zhao-Murray, market analyst at Monex Canada.