USD/CAD plummets to 1-month lows on upbeat Canadian retail sales

   •  Canadian retail sales come in better than expected and prompt some fresh selling.
   •  A sharp fall in Oil prices does little to lend any support amid a modest USD pullback.
   •  Investors now look forward to the latest FOMC policy minutes for a fresh impetus.

The USD/CAD pair maintained its offered tone through the early North-American session and tumbled to four-week lows in reaction to upbeat Canadian macro data.

The pair extended its recent pullback from levels just above the key 1.3500 psychological mark and finally managed to find acceptance below the 1.3400 handle, confirming a near-term bearish broke below a short-term consolidative trading range held over the past three weeks. 

The release of stronger than expected Canadian retail sales figures, showing a monthly growth of 1.1% in March provided a strong lift to the Canadian Dollar and turned out to be one of the key factors behind the latest leg of a sudden drop of around 30-pips in the last hour.

Bearish traders further took cues from a modest US Dollar pullback, led by weaker US Treasury bond yields, and seemed rather unaffected by a sharp intraday fall in Crude Oil prices, which tend to undermine demand for the commodity-linked currency - Loonie.

Moving ahead, focus now shifts to the release of minutes of the latest FOMC monetary policy meeting, which might play an important role in influencing the near-term USD price dynamics and eventually provide a fresh directional impetus.

Technical levels to watch