USD/CAD struggling to sustain move back above 200-DMA, US data on tap

The USD/CAD pair once again failed to sustain its move back above the very important 200-day SMA and trimmed some of its gains to session high level of 1.3130.

Currently hovering around 1.3110-15 region, the pair has failed to benefit from weaker crude oil prices, which tends to weigh on the commodity-linked currency - Loonie, and retreated from highs in tandem with the key US Dollar Index. 

In fact WTI crude oil was last seen trading with a loss of around 0.75% but US Dollar price dynamics has been an exclusive driver of the pair's movement of late. Hence, investors on Friday will remain focused on key US macro data - preliminary Q4 GDP print and durable goods orders, due for release in a short while from now.

The US economic growth is expected to have slowed in the last quarter of 2016 to an annualized pace of 2.2% from 3.5% growth recorded in Q3. Meanwhile, the durable goods orders is expected to have risen by 2.6% m-o-m as compared to last month's sharp contraction of 4.5%.

Technical levels to watch

A follow through retracement back below 1.3100 handle, and a subsequent drop below 1.3090 area, is likely to accelerate the slide back towards 1.3030 support ahead of 1.30 psychological mark. On the upside, 1.3130 level now seems to have emerged as immediate strong resistance above which a fresh bout of short-covering is likely to lift the pair beyond 1.3150-55 horizontal resistance towards reclaiming 1.3200 handle.