USD/CAD bulls eyeing a move beyond 1.3300 handle amid sliding oil prices

The USD/CAD pair refreshed daily tops during the early European session on Thursday, with bulls making a fresh attempt to extend the momentum further beyond the 1.3300 handle.

The pair gained some follow-through traction for the second consecutive session on Thursday and built on the overnight bounce from weekly lows, supported by an upward revision of the US GDP growth figures for the third quarter.

Subdued USD demand offset by weaker oil prices

According to the second estimate, the US economy is expected to have expanded at an annualized pace of 2.1%during the July-September quarter as compared to 1.9% reported originally and expected by market participants.

Adding to this, US Durable Goods Orders also surprised to the upside and unexpectedly rose by 0.6% in October, up from the previous month's downwardly revised reading of -1.4% and consensus estimates pointing to a 0.8% decline.

With the US dollar failing to capitalize on Wednesday's mostly upbeat US macro data-led positive move, weaker crude oil prices undermined demand for the commodity-linked currency – loonie and remained supportive of the uptick.

Oil prices lost some additional ground on Thursday on the back of the official EIA report, which showed that stockpiles in the US swelled 1.6 million barrels last week and production rose to a record of 12.9 million barrels per day.

It will now be interesting to see if the pair is able to capitalize on the positive momentum or once again meets with some fresh supply near a multi-month-old descending trend-line resistance amid relatively thin liquidity conditions.

Given that the US markets will remain closed on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving Day, the only release of Canadian current account details will now be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch