USD/CAD coming down to test 1.3500 ahead of data

The Canadian Dollar is posting marginal gains vs. its American neighbour at the end of the week, with USD/CAD leaving the area of recent highs to return to the boundaries of 1.3500 the figure.

USD/CAD attention to Payrolls, Canadian jobs

After reaching fresh YTD tops near 1.3550 on Thursday, spot met some selling interest and has now deflated towards the 1.3500 neighbourhood ahead of critical releases in both US and Canadian labour markets.

In fact, US Non-farm Payrolls are expected at 190K during February, while Canadian Employment is seen to have ticked higher by 2.5K during the same period.

In the meantime, the recent sell off in crude oil prices has dragged the barrel of West Texas Intermediate to fresh yearly lows in the mid-$48.00s, collaborating with the selling mood around CAD despite the currency seems to have decoupled somewhat from crude oil dynamics in past months.

The broader picture of policy divergence between the Fed and the Bank of Canada has been the almost exclusive driver for the pair’s price action as of late, exacerbated recently in response to increasing bets of a Fed rate hike next week.

USD/CAD significant levels

As of writing the pair is losing 0.02% at 1.3507 facing the next support at 1.3479 (low Mar.9) followed by 1.3465 (78.6% Fibo of 1.3601-1.2967) and finally 1.3395 (low Mar.8). On the other hand, a break above 1.3536 (2017 high Mar.9) would aim for 1.3601 (high Dec.28 2016) and finally 1.3861 (high Feb.24 2016).