Ella 
USD/CAD attracted some buying for the third day in a row on Wednesday, with the Asian session trading near the upper edge of the one-week range at 1.3770-1.3775.
Crude oil prices extended overnight losses, falling below the technically important 200-day simple moving average (SMA) and falling to their lowest levels since late July. This in turn weighs on the commodity-linked ruble and acts as a tailwind for USD/CAD. In addition, the U.S. dollar consolidated its strong recovery from the multi-week lows hit at the beginning of the week and had little impact on USD/CAD fluctuations.
With the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate hike path unclear, the recent sharp fall in U.S. bond yields and the continued rebound in the U.S. stock market have become key factors hindering the strengthening of safe-haven currencies. In fact, the weak U.S. monthly employment data for October released last Friday once again confirmed the market’s view that the Fed’s tightening policy campaign is nearing an end.
That said, several influential Fed members acknowledged this week that the U.S. economy remains resilient and left the door open to further interest rate increases. Therefore, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will give a speech early in the US session, which will be the focus of market attention. This will therefore drive demand for US dollars, providing fresh impetus to the USD/CAD pair.
In the absence of any market-affecting economic data to be released in either the United States or Canada, traders will further take cues from oil price fluctuations and seize short-term opportunities. That said, the fundamental backdrop appears to be in favor of the bulls, supporting USD/CAD to extend its upward trend over the past three days from Monday’s near three-week low in the 1.3630-1.3625 area.
