USD/CAD Declines to Trade near 2-Month Lows on Soft US Data

The USD/CAD currency pair today declined to trade near 2-month lows after the release of weak US advance goods trade balance data in the North American session. If the pair does not recoup its current losses, today would mark the seventh straight session in which the pair closes with a loss.

The USD/CAD currency pair lost over 70 points to decline from a daily high of 1.2653 to a low of 1.2577 in the early American session.

The commodity-linked loonie has rallied against the greenback  boosted by a rally in global crude oil prices as tracked by the West Texas Intermediate, which hit a high of $60 on Tuesday and is currently trading above $59.50. The loonie’s rally was also facilitated by the weaker US dollar as tracked by the US Dollar Index, which hit a low of 92.61 earlier today.

The US trade deficit for November released by the Census Bureau also contributed to pair’s decline as it was reported at $69.7 billion as opposed to the expected $67.9 billion. The initial jobless claims data released by the Department of Labor also contributed to the pair’s decline as it came in at 245,000 versus the expected 240,000. Lastly, the Chicago Business Barometer for December exceeded expectations by coming in at 67.6 as compared to the consensus estimate of 62.

The currency pair’s future performance is likely to be affected by global oil prices given the upcoming New Year’s holiday.

The USD/CAD currency pair was trading at 1.2587 as at 16:57 GMT having declined from a daily high of 1.2653. The CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at 89.69 having rallied from a low of 89.35 earlier today.

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