- A combination of factors assisted USD/CAD to gain some strong traction on Monday.
- The risk-off mood benefitted the safe-haven greenback and exerted some pressure.
- Sliding oil prices undermined the loonie and further contributed to the offered tone.
The USD/CAD pair edged higher through the early European session and shot to fresh daily tops, around the 1.3175 region in the last hour.
The pair managed to regain positive traction on the first day of a new trading week and snapped two consecutive days of the losing streak. The uptick was sponsored by a modest pickup in the US dollar demand and the ongoing slide in crude oil prices, which tend to undermine demand for the commodity-linked currency – the loonie.
The greenback found some support on Monday amid growing market worries about surging coronavirus cases in Europe and the United States. Adding to this, the disappointment over the next round of the US fiscal stimulus measures further weighed on investors’ sentiment and benefitted the USD’s status as the global reserve currency.
Meanwhile, the ever-increasing COVID-19 worries raised fears of renewed lockdown measures and dampened prospects for a swift recovery in the fuel demand. This, coupled with the prospect of increased supply, led to some follow-through weakness in oil prices, which was down around 3.5% for the day and provided an additional boost to the USD/CAD pair.
It, however, remains to be seen bulls are able to capitalize on the move or the USD/CAD pair meets with some fresh supply at higher levels. Investors might refrain from placing any aggressive bets ahead of the latest monetary policy update by the Bank of Canada (BoC) on Wednesday and important US macro data scheduled this week.
In the meantime, the broader market risk sentiment, the US stimulus headlines and developments surrounding the coronavirus saga will continue to influence the greenback’s safe-haven demand. This, along with oil price dynamics, might produce some trading opportunities around the USD/CAD pair amid relatively thin economic docket on Monday.
Technical levels to watch
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