USD/CAD distanced from three-month lows after US data

US dollar managed to rebound from its lowest point in three months against the Canadian currency on Thursday, after the release of upbeat existing home sales and Philadelphia Fed index of manufacturing out of the United States.

USD/CAD distanced from a session low at 1.0181, recorded at 9:20 GMT, also the pairs lowest point since June 19th, to reach a session high at 1.0231 at 14:37 GMT.

It became clear that existing home sales in the United States rose more than projected in the month of August, reaching 5.48 million units instead of 5.25 million units. In July sales pointed 5.39 million units, according to data by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Additionally, the Philadelphia Fed index of manufacturing showed a considerable improvement in August, coming in at a value of 22.3 from 9.3 in July. Experts had expected a much lesser advance of the index to a reading of 10.0.

Last but not least, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 309 000 during the week ending on September 14th 2013, marking the lowest level since 2007, while estimates pointed an increase to 330 000.

This series of economic data followed the policy decision by Fed on Wednesday to maintain the current monthly pace of its asset purchases at 85 billion USD.

“After the moves we’ve seen in the last 24 hours, there’s always a little bit of a scope for a pause for breath,” Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, said by phone from London, cited by Bloomberg. “It’s probably a good opportunity to take a little bit of profit and pause for breath as markets recalibrate after the Fed surprise.”