The USD/CAD closed at 1.30921 after placing a high of 1.30967 and a low of 1.30387. The USD/CAD pair remained on the upward momentum on Friday despite the strength in WTI Crude Oil prices and the Canadian Dollar amid the positive optimism regarding the vaccines. The optimism surrounding the vaccine development from Pfizer and Moderna was also followed by Oxford, the Russian Sputnik V, and China’s Sinovac and raised the market’s risk-on sentiment that supported the risk perceived USD/CAD pair on Friday.
On the data front, at 18:30 GMT, the Core Retail Sales from Canada raised to 1.0% against the expectations of 0.0% and supported the Canadian Dollar. For September, the Retail Sales also grew to 1.1% from the forecasted 0.2% and kept the Canadian Dollar. The NHPI for October came in line with the projection of 0.8%. At 18:32 GMT, the Corporate Profits for the quarter from Canada also came in line with the anticipations of 44.9%.
The Canadian Dollar was strong across the board on Friday due to supportive macroeconomic data and the rising Crude oil prices. The WTI crude oil was higher on Friday above the $42.5 level after the increased optimism about the coronavirus vaccines from across the world. The rising crude oil prices also supported the commodity-linked currency Loonie that capped further USD/CAD pair gains.
Meanwhile, the Canadian health officials warned that daily coronavirus infections could reach 60K per day by the end of December from their current level of 4.8K if people continue to increase their number of daily contacts. The Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said that Canada saw a massive spike in cases and that there was a risk that hospitals could get overwhelmed. He also said that it was frustrating that Canadians would have to do more to contain the virus from what they did weeks ago. These virus tensions across the North kept the Canadian Dollar weak and supported the rising USD/CAD prices on Friday.
On the US dollar front, the Dollar was strong across the board as the US Federal Reserve Chairman refrained from providing any clues about further easing in the upcoming Fed meeting and supported the USD/CAD pair’s upward momentum.
Daily Technical Levels:
Support Resistance
1.3039 1.3114
1.3007 1.3157
1.2964 1.3189
Pivot point: 1.3082
The USD/CAD pair is trading sideways in between the narrow range of 1.3120 – 1.3045 level. Investors seem to wait for a solid reason to trigger a breakout of the choppy range. The idea will be take a sell USD/CAD pair below 1.3045 level until 1.2937. Conversely, the continuation of a bullish trend over 1.3120 can lead the USD/CAD pair towards 1.3245. Good luck!
