USD/CAD bulls eyeing a move towards 1.24 handle, focus remains on Yellen

The USD/CAD pair continued with its steady rise and traded with a slight positive bias for the eight consecutive session.

The pair extended its recent recovery move from 28-month lows, touched earlier this month, and might now be looking to make a fresh attempt to reclaim the 1.2400 handle. 

A modest pickup in the US Dollar demand was seen supporting the pair's uptick through early European session. This coupled with a minor retracement in crude oil prices was also seen weighing on the commodity-linked currency and further collaborated to a mildly positive tone surrounding the major. 

It, however, remains to be seen if bulls are able to clear an important supply zone near the 1.2390 region amid renewed geopolitical tensions over the Korean peninsula. 

Later during early NA session, the US economic releases - Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index and New Home Sales data, would now be looked upon for some short-term trading opportunities. 

The key focus, however, would remain on the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's scheduled speech, later during the day. This coupled with the BOC Governor Stephen Poloz's speech on Wednesday would now play a key role in determining the pair's next leg of directional move.

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Technical levels to watch

A clear break through the 1.24 round figure mark, a bout of short-covering might continue to lift the pair further towards 50-day SMA hurdle near the 1.2465-70 region.

On the downside, retracement below 1.2360 level could get extended towards an important horizontal support near 1.2325 level, below which the pair is likely drop to 1.2285-80 strong support.