USD/CAD jumps to near 3-week tops, closer to 1.30 handle

   “¢   The ongoing slump in oil prices continues driving the pair higher.
   “¢   Weaker USD fails to dent the prevalent bullish sentiment.  

The USD/CAD pair built on last week’s strong up-move and is currently placed at near 3-week tops, closer to the key 1.30 psychological mark.  

Despite a modest US Dollar retracement, led by a sharp spike in the shared currency, the pair continued gaining positive traction at the start of a new trading week. The ongoing slump in crude oil prices was seen undermining demand for the commodity-linked currency – Loonie and driving the pair higher.

This coupled with some follow-through technical buying, especially after Friday’s bullish break-out, further collaborated to the bid tone surrounding the major, for the fifth straight session.

It would now be interesting to see if bulls are able to maintain their dominant position amid holiday-thinned liquidity conditions and ahead of this week’s important release of the keenly watched US non-farm payrolls data (NFP).

Technical levels to watch

On a sustained move beyond the 1.30 handle, the pair is likely to accelerate the up-move towards mid-1.3000s en-route the next major hurdle near the 1.3100 round figure mark. On the flip side, 1.2950-45 area now seems to protect the immediate downside, which if broken could drag the pair back below the 1.2900 handle towards its next support near the 1.2880-75 region.