At 3:38 p.m. (2038 GMT), the Canadian dollar
For the week, the loonie was up 1.8 percent, its biggest advance since September.
"The Canadian dollar has been a strong performer," said Alfonso Esparza, a senior currency analyst at OANDA. "We have seen some sort of recovery in oil prices and also the job numbers were solid. Following the huge November data point we expected a bit of a slowdown."
Canada added 9,300 jobs in December on an increase in part-time hiring, slightly more than markets had expected after a record 94,100 jobs were created in the previous month, Statistics Canada data indicated.
Still, money markets expect the Bank of Canada to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 1.75 percent next week and through the rest of the year. In November, before a sell-off in stocks and oil prices deepened, the market had expected rates to rise to about 2.50 percent by the end of 2019.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, climbed on Friday after proposed trade talks between the United States and China eased some fears about a global economic slowdown. U.S. crude oil futures settled 1.9 percent higher at $47.96 a barrel.
Wall Street rebounded after a strong U.S. payrolls report and remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that suggested the central bank would be flexible with monetary policy.
Powell's comments pressured the U.S. dollar, which declined against a basket of major currencies.
Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year
On Thursday, the 10-year yield touched its lowest intraday level in more than 16 months at 1.814 percent.
Separate data from Statistic Canada showed that Canadian producer prices fell by 0.8 percent in November from October, the largest drop in almost two years, thanks largely to cheaper energy and petroleum products.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Susan Thomas)
By Fergal Smith
