- Manufacturing sales rose more than expected in Canada.
- US Dollar Index stays in the red after mixed data.
- The barrel of WTI trades near $65.
Following the macroeconomic data releases from the United States & Canada, the USD/CAD pair struggled to make a decisive move in either direction and was last seen trading at 1.3152, where it was up 0.08% on the day.
According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales rose 1.1% in June. Although this number was below the May’s reading of 1.5%, it still surpassed the market expectation of 0.9%. Moreover, the ADP employment change, which showed a 10.5K decline in June, rebounded in July and came in at 11.6K.
On the other hand, initial weekly jobless claims in the U.S. eased to 212K from 214 while building permits increased by 1.5% to beat the analysts’ estimate of 1.4%. On a negative note, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index showed that the business activity in the sector expanded at a slower pace than expected with the headline number falling to 11.9 in August from 25.7 in July. After fluctuating sharply in the first 30 minutes following the data releases, the US Dollar Index retreated to mid-96s, where it was down 0.2%.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices are struggling to make a meaningful recovery after the sharp sell-off witnessed in the first three days of the week and is not allowing the commodity-sensitive loonie to gather strength. At the moment, the barrel of WTI is trading at $65, up only 12 cents on the day.
Technical outlook
The initial resistance for the pair aligns at 1.3200 (psychological level) ahead of 1.3285 (Jul. 19 high) and 1.3385 (Jun. 27 high). On the downside, supports could be seen at 1.3135 (50-DMA), 1.3105 (Aug. 13 low) and 1.3050/55 (Aug. 15 low/20-DMA).
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