USD/CAD drops to 1.3260 area as USD gathers strength on upbeat US data
- Second estimate of Q3 US GDP comes in higher than expected.
- Durable Goods Orders in US rebounded sharply in October.
- US Dollar Index edges higher toward mid-98s on upbeat data.
The USD/CAD pair came under renewed selling pressure in the last hour as the upbeat macroeconomic data releases from the US ramped up the demand for the greenback. As of writing, the pair was down 0.07% on the day at 1.3262.
USD gathers strength on data
In its second estimate, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter expanded 2.1% to better the previous estimate of 1.9% and surpassed the market expectation of 1.9% as well. Additionally, following a 1.4% decline in September, Durable Goods Orders in October rose 0.6% to provide an additional boost to the USD.
The US Dollar Index gained traction and was last up 0.13% on a daily basis at 98.38. Later in the session, the BEA will publish the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, alongside Personal Spending and Personal Income figures for October.
On the other hand, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) continues to trade above $58 with modest daily gains ahead of the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) weekly crude oil stock data and helps the commodity-sensitive CAD show some resilience against the greenback.
Technical levels to watch for