USD/CAD hovering around 3-week lows, jobs data in focus

The USD/CAD major witnessed a mild recovery from 3-week lows, touched during Asian session on Friday, and has now tipped back above 1.3300 handle, albeit remained in red for the second consecutive session. 

Earlier during Asian session, the pair extended previous session's sharp slide below 50-day SMA and dropped to its lowest level since Nov. 9 as OPEC deal-led strong rally in crude oil prices was seen boosting demand for the dollar-denominated commodity - Loonie. The pair, however, pulled-back from lows on the back of a mild retracement in crude oil prices, with WTI crude oil trading weak with a cut of around 1% on the back of profit-taking.

The pair's recovery, however, lacked momentum as investors held back on making big bets going into today's important releases. Friday's economic docket features the release of employment reports, from both the US and Canada, later during NA session, and is likely to help investors determine the next leg of directional move for the major. In the meantime, sentiment surrounding crude oil prices might continue to provide impetus for short-term traders.

Technical levels to watch

Recovery momentum above 1.3300 handle might now confront resistance at 50-day SMA near 1.3325 above which the pair is likely to witness a short-covering bounce immediately towards 1.3360 resistance before making an attempt to reclaim 1.3400 handle. On the downside, weakness below 1.3264 (Nov. 9 low) is likely to accelerate the slide towards 1.3200 handle en-route 100-day SMA support near 1.3185 region.