USD/CAD drops to daily lows near 1.2100 after US and Canada data
- USD/CAD extends its daily slide in the early American session.
- US Dollar Index stays below 90.50 after uninspiring Retail Sales data.
- Manufacturing Sales in Canada increased sharply in March.
The USD/CAD pair came under renewed bearish pressure in the early trading hours of the American session and dropped to a daily low of 1.2098. As of writing, the pair was losing 0.5% on the day at 1.2100.
CAD capitalizes on upbeat Canadian data
The data from the US showed on Friday that Retail Sales in April stayed unchanged at $619.9 billion in April. This reading missed the market expectation for an increase of 1% and made it difficult for the greenback to gather strength against its rivals. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is down 0.3% at 90.45.
Additionally, Industrial Production in the US increased by 0.7% in April, falling short of analysts' estimate of 1%.
On the other hand, Statistics Canada reported that Manufacturing Sales and Wholesale Sales in Canada rose by 3.5% and 2.8%, respectively, in March. Moreover, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is up more than 1% on the day at $64.50, helping the commodity-related loonie to continue to find demand.
Later in the session, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index will be the last data release of the week from the US.
Technical levels to watch for