USD/CAD in search of a firm direction, stuck in a range below mid-1.3000s

USD/CAD remains confined in a narrow trading band below mid-1.3000s.
The USD gains some traction on mostly upbeat US macroeconomic data.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The USD/CAD pair extended its sideways consolidative price action and remained confined in a range, just below mid-1.3000s through the early North-American session on Thursday.

A mildly positive tone around crude oil prices – now up around 0.45% for the day – extended some support to the commodity-linked currency – loonie and was seen as one of the key factors keeping a lid on any attempted positive move for the major.

Traders refrained from placing any aggressive bets

The downside, however, remained limited and was further cushioned by a modest US dollar rebound following the release of mostly upbeat US economic releases – monthly retail sales data, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and initial weekly jobless claims.

In fact, the headline Retail Sales recorded a growth of 0.3% in December and Core Sales expanded 0.7% MoM, both surpassing consensus estimates. Adding to this, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index also surprised to the upside and improved to 17.0 for January.

Despite the supporting factors, traders refrained from placing any aggressive bets, rather preferred to wait on the sidelines and wait for a fresh catalyst before positioning for the pair's next leg of a directional move ahead of next week's BoC monetary policy update.

Technical levels to watch

USD/CAD

Overview
Today last price	1.3042
Today Daily Change	-0.0005
Today Daily Change %	-0.04
Today daily open	1.3047

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.3063
Daily SMA50	1.3166
Daily SMA100	1.3191
Daily SMA200	1.3243

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.308
Previous Daily Low	1.3034
Previous Weekly High	1.3106
Previous Weekly Low	1.2956
Previous Monthly High	1.3322
Previous Monthly Low	1.2951
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.3052
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.3062
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.3028
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.3009
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.2983
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.3073
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.3099
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.3118

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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