USD / CAD modestly recovers from weekly lows, remains below 1.2300

• USD / CAD fell to a weekly low of 1.2251 on Wednesday.
• Retail sales in Canada fell at a stronger rate than expected in April.
• The US Dollar Index remains in negative territory after mixed PMI data.

The pair USD / CAD it extended its daily decline and hit its lowest level in a week at 1.2251 during the early trading hours of the US session on Wednesday. However, the pair managed to rally in the last hour and was last seen losing 0.15% on the day at 1.2287.

WTI remains near multi-year highs

Despite widespread USD weakness and rising crude oil prices, disappointing data from Canada appears to make it difficult for the CAD to remain strong. Statistics Canada reported that retail sales declined 5.7% on a month-to-month basis in April, compared with analysts’ estimate of a 5% decline.

Meanwhile, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which touched its highest level since October 2018 at $ 74.22, is up 0.8% on the day at $ 73.80, helping the Canadian dollar related to commodities. limit your losses for now. A Wall Street Journal report that OPEC + planned to increase the group’s production by 500,000 barrels a day when they meet next week appears to be supporting crude prices.

On the other hand, US data revealed that Markit’s manufacturing PMI hit a new series high of 62.6 in June’s preliminary reading. On a negative note, the Markit Services PMI fell to 64.8 in June from 70.4 in May and disappointed the market’s expectation of 70 by a wide margin. Following these mixed figures, the US Dollar Index (DXY) extended its slide to a daily low of 91.51 before regaining its traction.

With major Wall Street indices posting modest losses after the opening bell, the DXY erased a portion of its losses and was last seen trading flat on the day near 91.70.

Technical levels