Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was almost unchanged against its Canadian counterpart in quiet pre-Easter trade on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of Federal Reserve minutes and U.S. data later in the session.
USD/CAD hit 0.9888 during early U.S. trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9903, dipping 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9866, the low of March 20 and resistance at 0.9989, Monday’s high.
Investors remained wary of pushing the greenback too high ahead of the Federal Reserve minutes, as they awaited any indication that policymakers may be considering implementing a third round of monetary easing to shore up growth.
Meanwhile, concerns over the outlook for economic growth in the euro zone weighed on risk appetite and kept demand for higher yielding assets in check.
The Canadian dollar came under pressure from weaker oil prices, as crude oil contracts for delivery in May slid 0.40% on the New York Mercantile Exchange to trade at USD104.81 a barrel.
Raw materials, including oil account for about half of Canada’s export revenue.
The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was little changed against the euro, with EUR/CAD dipping 0.01% to hit 1.3191.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to release official data on factory orders, while the Fed was to release the minutes of its March policy meeting.
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