USD/CAD rises to daily highs above 1.34 post-EIA

After struggling to extend the daily gains above 1.34 during the European session, the USD/CAD gathered some fresh momentum and renewed its daily high at 1.3423 as the price of crude oil fell back below $51 area, putting pressure on the CAD. As of writing, the pair is at 1.3417, recording a 0.1% daily gain.

Oil under pressure

The weekly stocks report released by the Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels for the week ending March 31, 2017, to reach a total of 535.5 million barrels. Following the data, the West Texas Intermediate lost around 1$ per barrel from its daily high at $51.88 in a quick manner. At the moment the barrel of WTI is losing 0.22% at $50.90.

Excluding the initial knee-jerk reaction to the ADP employment report, macro data from the United States were largely ignored by the markets as the focus remains on the FOMC minutes. 

• US: Private sector employment increased by 263,000 - ADP
• US: March sees slowest growth of US service sector for six months - Markit

USD/CAD levels to watch

The first technical hurdle for the pair is aligned at 1.3455 (Apr. 4 high) followed by 1.3500 (psychological level) and 1.3535 (Mar. 9 high). On the flip side, a break below 1.3400 (psychological level) could aim for 1.3355 (20-DMA) and then 1.3280 (50-DMA).