USD/CAD holds steady below 1.3500 amid weaker Oil prices, subdued USD demand

USD/CAD struggles to attract any meaningful buyers amid a mixed fundamental cue.
Sliding Crude Oil prices and Friday’s mixed Canadian jobs data undermine the Loonie.
Bets for a June Fed rate cut keep the USD bulls on the defensive and act as a headwind.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The USD/CAD pair struggles to capitalize on Friday's goodish rebound from the 1.3420 region, or a nearly one-month low and oscillates in range on the first day of a new week. The pair trades around the 1.3480 area, nearly unchanged for the day during the Asian session, and is influenced by a combination of diverging forces.

Crude Oil prices drift lower for the second straight day and retreat further from over a four-month peak set earlier this March amid concern about slowing demand in China, exacerbated by underwhelming import data for the first two months of 2024. Furthermore, mixed Chinese inflation data add to market worries and overshadow a tighter supply outlook. This continues to weigh on the black liquid, which is seen undermining the commodity-linked Loonie and acting as a tailwind for the USD/CAD pair.

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is further pressured by slowing domestic wage growth in February, to its lowest level since June, and an uptick in the unemployment rate. Meanwhile, the simultaneous release of the US jobs report pointed to a spike in the jobless rate to the highest level in two years reaffirmed bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start cutting interest rates in June. This fails to assist the US Dollar (USD) to build on its recovery from a nearly one-month low and caps the upside for the USD/CAD pair.

The mixed fundamental backdrop warrants some caution for bullish traders and before positioning for any meaningful appreciating move for the currency pair. Market participants might also prefer to move to the sidelines ahead of the release of the latest US consumer inflation figures on Tuesday, which might influence the Fed's rate-cut path and drive the USD demand in the near term. This, along with Oil price dynamics, should help determine the next leg of a directional move for the USD/CAD pair.

USD/CAD

Overview
Today last price	1.3485
Today Daily Change	-0.0010
Today Daily Change %	-0.07
Today daily open	1.3495

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.352
Daily SMA50	1.3465
Daily SMA100	1.3531
Daily SMA200	1.3478

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.3498
Previous Daily Low	1.342
Previous Weekly High	1.3605
Previous Weekly Low	1.342
Previous Monthly High	1.3606
Previous Monthly Low	1.3366
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.3468
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.345
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.3444
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.3393
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.3366
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.3522
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.3549
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.36

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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