“¢ A goodish pickup in the USD demand helped regain traction on Thursday.
“¢ The ongoing bullish run in oil prices underpinned Loonie and capped gains.
“¢ Traders now eye a relatively thin US economic docket for some impetus.
The USD/CAD pair traded with a mild positive bias for the second consecutive session on Friday and built on the overnight goodish bounce from the 1.3400 handle or weekly lows.
A goodish pickup in the US Dollar demand, further supported by Thursday’s robust US economic releases – housing market data, Philly Fed Manufacturing index and weekly jobless claims, helped the pair stall its rejection slide from the key 1.3500 psychological mark.
Meanwhile, upbeat data from Canada – ADP employment report and manufacturing sales, and rallying Oil prices failed to lend any meaningful support to the commodity-linked currency – Loonie, or hinder the pair’s strong intraday up-move of nearly 70-pips.
The positive momentum extended through the Asian session on Friday, albeit a combination of negative forces – the prevailing bullish sentiment around Oil markets and a subdued USD price action, kept a lid on any strong follow-through, at least for now.
The pair remained well below the 1.3500 handle – the top end of a near four-week-old trading range, and hence, it would be prudent to wait for a sustained break through the recent trading range before traders start positioning for any further appreciating move.
Moving ahead, Friday’s relatively thin US economic docket – featuring the only release of the Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment Index for May, will now be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities later during the early North-American session.
Technical levels to watch