USD/CAD climbs to 1.3270 on broad USD strength, crude oil selloff
- WTI turns south after rising for two straight days.
- US Dollar Index climbs above 99 on Thursday.
- Annual core CPI in US is expected to fall to 2.2%.
The USD/CAD pair closed the last two trading days in the negative territory as the recovering crude oil prices helped the commodity-sensitive CAD outperform its rivals. However, renewed fears over the coronavirus' negative impact on the global oil demand caused prices to turn south and allowed the pair to rebound. As of writing, the pair was up 0.15% on the day at 1.3270.
After gaining more than 4% in the last two days, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost its traction after China reported a sharp increase in the number of confirmed infections following a change in the counting method. In the meantime, Russia has announced that it is yet to decide if it will agree to additional output cuts recommended by OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee (JTC) last week. At the moment, the TWI is trading at $50.95, erasing 1.35% on a daily basis.
Eyes on US CPI data
On the other hand, the greenback is staying relatively strong on Thursday with the US Dollar Index inching higher above the 99 handle ahead of the inflation data. The selling pressure surrounding the EUR seems to be providing a boost to the USD demand.
Previewing the Consumer Price Index figures, "the overall CPI was probably held down by a decline in gasoline prices in January; our 0.1% forecast is below the 0.2% consensus. The 12-month change probably rose 0.1 points to 2.4%,” said TD Securities analysts. "CPI presents no threat to the USD maintaining its high altitude."
Technical levels to watch for