Ella 
In the Asian market on Thursday, USD/CAD continued to rise, rising for the fifth consecutive trading day, rising near 1.3580. The Canadian dollar came under downward pressure against the US dollar as crude oil prices fell, providing support to the USD/CAD pair. Additionally, Canadian GDP data will need to be closely watched later in the U.S. session.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are attempting to recover from intraday losses, trading higher near $78.10 a barrel at press time. However, crude oil prices faced challenges amid expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would delay its first interest rate cut. Additionally, a weekly increase in crude oil inventories from the American Petroleum Institute also added to downward pressure on oil prices.
In December 2023, Canadian non-farm payrolls increased at an annual rate of 3.8%, a slight slowdown from the revised 3.9% rate in November 2023. Additionally, the country’s current account deficit narrowed to C$1.62 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 from C$4.74 billion in the previous quarter, but was slightly higher than market expectations for a deficit of C$1.25 billion.
Recent U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) data has prompted financial markets to postpone expectations for the first interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed). This provides some support to the US dollar (USD), supporting USD/CAD.
