- Retail sales in US rose more than expected in July.
- WTI recovers to $55 to help CAD limit its losses.
- US Dollar Index turns positive on the day near 98 on upbeat data.
The USD/CAD pair gained traction in the last hour and rose to its highest level in a week at 1.3331 as the Greenback gathered strength on the back of upbeat macroeconomic data releases. As of writing, the pair was up 0.08% on the day at 1.3328.
Strong US data help ease recession fears
The monthly data published by the US Census Bureau today showed that retail sales increased by 0.7% on a monthly basis in July to beat the market expectation of 0.3% Core retail sales, which excludes car sales, rose by 1% in the same period. Moreover, the NY Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Index improved to 4.8 in August from 4.3 in July and the Philly Fed’s Manufacturing Index came in at 16.8 to surpass analysts’ estimate of 10.
With the initial reaction to the data, the US Dollar Index climbed to a fresh session high at 98 and was last up 0.04% on the day at 97.98.
On the other hand, the ADP Research Institue today reported that private sector employment in Canada rose by 73,700 in July following June’s reading of 30,400 and helped the Loonie limit its losses. Additionally, crude oil prices staged a persistent recovery in the last few hours with the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) turning flat on the day near $55 and helped the commodity-sensitive CAD remain resilient.
Later in the session, industrial production data from the US will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
Technical levels to watch for
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