USD/CAD Holds Steady Above 1.3500 Mark Ahead Of FOMC Meeting Minutes

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USD/CAD lacks firm intraday direction and is influenced by a combination of diverging forces.

Sliding Oil prices, and softer Canadian inflation data undermine the Loonie and lend some support.

The USD languishes near a multi-week low and cap gains ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes.

The USD/CAD pair struggles to capitalize on its gains registered over the past three days and oscillates in a narrow trading band through the first half of the European session on Wednesday. Spot prices, however, manage to hold above the 1.3500 psychological mark as traders keenly await the release of the highly-anticipated FOMC meeting minutes before placing fresh directional bets.The minutes will be scrutinized closely for cues about the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate-cut path, which, in turn, will play a key role in influencing the US Dollar (USD) price dynamics and provide a fresh directional impetus to the USD/CAD pair. In the meantime, the markets have fully priced out the possibility of early rate cuts by the Fed, which remains supportive of elevated US Treasury bond yields. This, along with a softer risk tone, lends some support to the safe-haven buck and limits the downside for the currency pair.Meanwhile, expectations that the  will keep interest  higher for longer have weighed on the outlook for fuel demand and drag  lower for the second straight day. Apart from this, softer-than-expected Canadian consumer inflation data released on Tuesday is seen as another factor undermining the commodity-linked Loonie and offering support to the USD/CAD pair. In fact, Canadian CPI decelerated to the 2.9% YoY rate in January and core inflation measures dropped to the lowest levels in more than two years.Meanwhile, fears of supply disruptions from the Middle East remain in the wake of a string of attacks in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen. This could act as a tailwind for the Oil prices and hold back traders from placing aggressive bearish bets around the Canadian Dollar (CAD). Moreover, the recent range-bound price action witnessed over the past two weeks or so warrants some caution before confirming a firm near-term direction for the USD/CAD pair in the absence of any relevant  on Wednesday.
 Technical levels to watchUSD/CAD

OVERVIEW Today last price 1.3521 Today Daily Change -0.0001 Today Daily Change % -0.01 Today daily open 1.3522 TRENDS Daily SMA20 1.3474 Daily SMA50 1.3409 Daily SMA100 1.3549 Daily SMA200 1.3478 LEVELS Previous Daily High 1.353 Previous Daily Low 1.3472 Previous Weekly High 1.3586 Previous Weekly Low 1.343 Previous Monthly High 1.3542 Previous Monthly Low 1.3229 Daily Fibonacci 38.2% 1.3508 Daily Fibonacci 61.8% 1.3494 Daily Pivot Point S1 1.3486 Daily Pivot Point S2 1.345 Daily Pivot Point S3 1.3429 Daily Pivot Point R1 1.3544 Daily Pivot Point R2 1.3566 Daily Pivot Point R3 1.3601

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