USD/CAD trades near yearly highs above mid-1.32s as WTI stays below $65

Crude oil prices fall ahead of OPEC meeting.
Commodity-sensitive loonie struggles to find demand.
US Dollar Index goes into consolidation below 95.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Earlier today, boosted by a combination of a weaker loonie and a stronger greenback, the USD/CAD pair reached its highest level in a year at 1.3290. As of writing, the pair was trading at 1.3265, adding 0.5% on the day.

Ahead of the critical OPEC summit in Vienna at the end of this week, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate dropped below the $65 mark. Commenting on expectations from the OPEC meeting, Kuwait's oil minister said that there were no specific scenarios for raising or lowering the production ceiling and added that they will be discussing production levels rather than price. At the moment, the barrel of WTI is losing a little over $1, or 1.6%, on the day at $64.65.

In the meantime, the greenback continues to outperform its rivals as the quiet macroeconomic calendar allows investors to price the diverging monetary policies between the Fed and the rest of the major central banks. Nonetheless, the US Dollar Index encountered a resistance just ahead of the 95 mark earlier in the session and has been moving sideways since. Near 94.70, the DXY stays on track to end the day more than 0.3% higher.

Technical outlook

The RSI indicator on the daily chart stays above the 70 mark, suggesting that the pair may need to make a technical correction before extending higher. On the upside, resistances could be seen at 1.3290 (daily high), 1.3340 (Jun. 21, 2017, high) and 1.3400 (psychological level). On the downside, supports align at 1.3200 (daily low/psychological level), 1.3115 (Jun. 15 low) and 1.3020 (20-DMA).

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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