USD/CAD holds steady around mid-1.3200s, moves little post-Canadian retail sales

• USD/CAD seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses on Friday.
• A modest USD pullback was negated by weaker oil prices.
• Mixed Canadian retail sales failed to provide any fresh impetus.

The USD/CAD pair remained confined in its intraday trading range, around mid-1.3200s, and had a rather muted reaction to Canadian macro data.

The pair failed to capitalize on the previous session’s goodish intraday bounce from three-week lows and remained confined in a narrow trading band through the major part of Friday’s trading action.

Traders seemed reluctant to place fresh bets

Against the backdrop of a modest US dollar pullback from multi-year tops, a sharp fall in crude oil prices undermined the commodity-linked currency – the loonie and failed to provide any meaningful impetus.

The pair moved little following the release of mixed Canadian monthly retail sales figures for December, showing that headline sales remained flat as compared to consensus estimates pointing to a 0.1% rise.

Conversely, sales excluding automobiles came in better than expected and rose by 0.5%. This along with an upward revision of the previous month’s upward revision helped offset the softer headline print.

Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, featuring the release of flash Manufacturing and Services PMI prints, which might produce some meaningful trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch