Ella 
USD/CAD struggled to capitalize on Friday’s positive rebound from the $1.3420 area, or near one-month low, and was range-bound on the first day of the new week. During the Asian session, the pair traded around 1.3480 with little change throughout the day, influenced by a combination of forces.
Crude oil prices fell for a second day in a row, retreating further from more than four-month highs set in early March on worries about slowing Chinese demand, worries exacerbated by poor import data in the first two months of 2024. In addition, mixed Chinese inflation data also added to market concerns and cast a shadow over the prospect of supply tightening. This will continue to weigh on oil prices, which in turn weakens the commodity-linked Canadian dollar and becomes a bullish factor for USD/CAD.
The Canadian dollar (CAD) came under further pressure from slower domestic wage growth in February (hit its lowest level since June) and rising unemployment. Meanwhile, a concurrent U.S. jobs report noted that the unemployment rate surged to its highest level in two years, reaffirming bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will begin cutting interest rates in June. This failed to help the US dollar (USD) recover from near one-month lows and limited the upside for the USD/CAD pair.
