USD/CAD struggles to gain positive traction, but holds above 1.3400 handle

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• A goodish pickup in the US bond yields extends some support to the US Dollar.
• Positive crude oil prices underpin Loonie and partly offset the supporting factor.
• Traders now eye US monthly retail sales data for some meaningful trading impetus.

The USD/CAD pair struggled to build on its attempted intraday up-move and is currently placed in the neutral territory, albeit managed to hold well Friday's swing low.

The pair witnessed some profit-taking/long-unwinding trade on Friday in reaction to the diverging monthly jobs report from the US and Canada. The US Dollar lost some ground after the latest US monthly jobs report showed that the economy added only 20K new jobs in February.

Meanwhile, the commodity-linked currency - Loonie got an additional boost in wake of upbeat domestic employment details, though a sharp intraday slide in crude oil prices partly offset the negative factors and helped limit deeper losses for the major.

With investors looking past Friday's macro data, a combination of opposing forces failed to provide any meaningful impetus and led to a subdued/range-bound price action through the early European session on the first trading day of the week.

A goodish pickup in the US Treasury bond yields underpinned demand for the greenback and extended some support/provided a minor lift to the major. Meanwhile, oil prices held steady with modest intraday gains of 0.70% and kept a lid on any meaningful up-move.

Moving ahead, today's US economic docket, highlighting the release of monthly retail sales data, will now be looked upon for some meaningful impetus/short-term trading opportunities later during the early North-American session.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near the 1.3400 handle, below which the corrective slide could further get extended towards the 1.3370 horizontal support before the pair eventually drops to test the 1.3310-1.3300 support area. On the flip side, the 1.3440 area now seems to have emerged as an immediate resistance, which if cleared now seems to set the stage for further near-term up-move towards conquering the key 1.3500 psychological mark.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD stays weak above 1.1750 ahead of German/ EU PMI data

EUR/USD remains on the back foot above 1.1850 in the European session on Friday, well within striking distance of a nearly one-month low set the previous day. Unabated US Dollar demand and nervousness ahead of the German and Eurozone business PMI data keep the pair undermined.

GBP/USD recovers above 1.3450 after strong UK Retail Sales data

GBP/USD is recovering ground above 1.3450 in European trading on Friday, helped by a modest uptick in the Pound Sterling after a bigger-than-expected increase in the UK Retail Sales for January. However, the further upside appears limited in the pair amid persistent US Dollar strength and ahead of key UK and US data.

Gold rises for third day on geopolitical risks, US data eyed

Gold gains some positive traction for the third consecutive day on Friday. The upside potential, however, seems limited amid the mixed fundamental backdrop. Moreover, traders might opt to wait for the key US macro releases – the Advance Q4 GDP report and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index – before placing fresh directional bets.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple remain range-bound as breakdown risks rise

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple are trading sideways within consolidation ranges on Friday, signaling a lack of directional bias in the broader crypto market. BTC rebounded from key support, and ETH is nearing the lower consolidation boundary, while XRP is holding at its lower trendline boundary.

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

Official Trump price approaches breakout with mixed signals from traders

Official Trump (TRUMP) is trading at $3.50 at the time of writing, approaching its upper consolidation range. A breakout from this range could open the door for an upside move. On-chain data shows market indecision, with balanced flows between bulls and bears, signaling a lack of clear directional bias.