The Canadian dollar strengthened against its US counterpart on Friday, recouping its earlier decline, as investors raised bets on further tightening by the Bank of Canada after domestic data showed a huge jobs gain in December. The Canadian economy gained 104,000 jobs last month, far exceeding analysts’ forecasts of 8,000, while the jobless rate unexpectedly declined to 5%, Statistics Canada data showed. Money markets now see a 75% chance of a quarter-point interest rate hike by the BoC when it next meets to decide on policy on Jan. 25, up from 64% before the data. The Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% higher at ... (full story)