USD/CAD flirts with session lows, holds above 1.2500 mark
- A subdued USD demand prompted some selling around USD/CAD on Thursday.
- A softer tone around oil prices undermined the loonie and helped limit losses.
The USD/CAD pair traded with a mild negative bias through the first half of the European session and was last seen trading near daily lows, around the 1.2520-15 region.
Following the previous day's two-way price moves, the USD/CAD pair edged lower on Thursday and for now, seems to have snapped four consecutive days of the winning streak. A subdued US dollar demand was seen as a key factor that exerted some pressure, though a weaker tone around crude oil prices helped limit any further losses.
The USD struggled to capitalize on the previous day's solid rebound from the vicinity of one-month lows, triggered by Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida's hawkish comments. Clarida took a more hawkish turn and signalled a move to taper bond buying later this year or early 2022 depending on how the labor market fared in the next few months.
Clarida further added that conditions for an interest rate hike could be met in late 2022 and forced investors to bring forward the likely timing of a policy tightening. This was evident from a follow-through uptick in the US Treasury bond yields, though a generally positive tone around the equity markets capped gains for the safe-haven greenback.
Meanwhile, the downside for the USD/CAD pair remains cushioned, at least for the time being, amid the recent fall in crude oil prices, which tend to undermine the commodity-linked loonie. Investors remain worried that a surge in COVID-19 cases could derail the global economic recovery and limit fuel demand, which, in turn, weighed on the black gold.
Market participants now look forward to some second-tier US macro data, including the usual Initial Weekly Jobless Claims, for some impetus. The key focus will remain on Friday's monthly employment details from the US (NFP) and Canada. This will help investors to determine the next leg of a directional move for the USD/CAD pair.
Technical levels to watch