- USD/CAD trades cautiously around 1.3580 amid the US Dollar’s underperformance.
- Investors await Fed speeches for fresh cues on the US interest rate outlook.
- The BoC opens the door for interest rate hikes amid upside inflation risks.
The USD/CAD pair trades with caution near Thursday’s low at around 1.3580 during the late Asian trading session on Friday. The Loonie pair trades weakly as the US Dollar (USD) is broadly under pressure, following Japanese intervention in the forex markets.
During the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is marginally higher to near 98.20, but is close to its 10-day low of 98.00.
US Dollar Price This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.25% | -0.62% | -1.43% | -0.70% | -0.82% | -0.45% | -0.59% | |
| EUR | 0.25% | -0.35% | -1.25% | -0.43% | -0.55% | -0.18% | -0.32% | |
| GBP | 0.62% | 0.35% | -0.88% | -0.07% | -0.20% | 0.17% | 0.03% | |
| JPY | 1.43% | 1.25% | 0.88% | 0.80% | 0.66% | 1.11% | 0.93% | |
| CAD | 0.70% | 0.43% | 0.07% | -0.80% | -0.08% | 0.31% | 0.11% | |
| AUD | 0.82% | 0.55% | 0.20% | -0.66% | 0.08% | 0.38% | 0.24% | |
| NZD | 0.45% | 0.18% | -0.17% | -1.11% | -0.31% | -0.38% | -0.14% | |
| CHF | 0.59% | 0.32% | -0.03% | -0.93% | -0.11% | -0.24% | 0.14% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The next major trigger for the US Dollar will be commentaries from a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) officials as the blackout period has ended after the monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
In the policy meeting, the Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged in the range of 3.50%-3.75%, as expected, with an 8-4 majority. Four members dissented from the hold decision, of which three called for a move away from the easing bias.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Dollar (CAD) outperforms as the Bank of Canada (BoC) warned on Wednesday that interest rates could rise, with energy prices remaining higher.
USD/CAD technical analysis
USD/CAD trades close to Thursday’s low at around 1.3580 at the press time. The pair holds a bearish near-term bias as spot remains capped beneath the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 1.3698 and a Fibonacci-heavy resistance band starting at the 61.8% retracement near 1.3667.
A shift in the Relative Strength Index (14) below 40.00 warrants fresh downside momentum with no oversold signals in sight.
On the downside, the pair could slide towards the March 9 low of 1.3525 and the swing low at 1.3482 if it fails to hold the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement at 1.3585.
On the topside, a recovery would first face resistance at the 61.8% retracement at 1.3667, followed by the 20-day EMA at 1.3698 and the 50% retracement near 1.3725; only a sustained break above this cluster would ease the current bearish tone and open the way toward higher retracement barriers at 1.3782 and 1.3853.
