The USD/CAD currency pair on Thursday rallied to trade at about 1.3583 following the latest round of US data. The currency pair appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-minute chart.
The pair has now advanced to trade several levels above the 100-hour moving average line. As a result, the currency pair appears to be on the verge of entering the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.
USD/CAD Fundamentals Overview
From a fundamental perspective, the USD/CAD currency pair is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in the US market. On Thursday, the US initial jobless claims for the week ending August 18 beat the expected claim count of 240k with a tally of 230k. The continuing claims for the preceding week also outshone 1.708 million with a tally of 1.702 million.
The durable goods orders for July missed the expectation of -4% with a change of -5.2%. The durable goods orders ex-transportation beat the estimated change of 0.2% with a change of 0.5%, while the nondefence capital goods orders ex-aircraft matched the estimated change of 0.1%.
In Canada, retail sales for June beat the (MoM) expectation of 0% with a change of 0.1%. Retail sales ex-autos missed the forecasted change of 0.3% with a change of -0.8%. The new housing price index for July also fell short of 0.1% with a change of -0.1% (MoM).
USD/CAD Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the USD/CAD currency pair appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation. The 1-hour MACD also appears to support a strong bullish case after completing an upward crossover on Thursday.
Therefore, the bulls will be looking to extend the current gains toward 1.3597 or higher to 1.3611. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about 1.3569 or lower at 1.3555.
USD/CAD Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)
In the daily chart, the USD/CAD currency pair also seems to be trading within an ascending channel formation. However, the daily MACD indicates that a downward crossover could be around the corner.
Therefore, the bear will be targeting potential pullbacks at about 1.3493 or lower at 1.3412. On the other hand, the bulls will look to ride the current rally towards 1.3649 or higher to 1.3726.