USD/CAD eases from tops, still comfortable above 1.3300 handle post-Canadian data

• A slump in Oil prices weighed on Loonie and drove the pair higher in the last hour.
• Canadian retail sales data bettered market expectations and capped further gains.
• The focus now shifts to Powell’s speech amid the incoming trade-related headlines.

The USD/CAD pair maintained its bid tone through the early North-American session, albeit quickly retreated few pips from daily tops post-Canadian retail sales.
 
The commodity-linked currency – Loonie was weighed down by a sudden intraday drop in Crude Oil prices, triggered by news that China will slap tariffs also on US oil in addition to retaliatory tariffs on another $75 billion worth of US goods.

Upbeat Canadian data/softer USD caps

The uptick, however, remained capped below the 1.3345 supply zone following the release of better-than-expected Canadian monthly retail sales data, showing that core sales unexpected increased by 0.9% in June as compared to a flat reading expected.
 
This coupled with a modest intraday US Dollar pullback, weighed down by St Louis Fed President James Bullard’s dovish comments, further collaborated towards keeping a lid on any strong follow-through up-move for the major.
 
With investors still digesting the latest trade-related developments, the focus now shifts to the highly anticipated speech by the Fed Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole Symposium, which will be looked upon for some meaningful directional impetus.

Technical levels to watch