USD/CAD remains directionless near mid-1.31s as oil rally caps upside
- Factory Orders in the US fell at a stronger pace than expected.
- US Dollar Index clings to recovery gains despite uninspiring data.
- WTI trades at its highest level since late September above $57.
The USD/CAD pair struggles to make a decisive move in either direction on Monday as the surging crude oil prices help the commodity-sensitive CAD stay resilient against the USD. As of writing, the pair was up only 0.07% on the day at 1.3144.
Oil rallies on Monday
Earlier in the day, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters that he expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to agree to further reduce the oil output at the organization's next meeting in December. Additionally, easing concerns over a protracted trade conflict between the United States (US) and China following reports of sides moving closer to finalizing the phase of the trade deal provided an additional boost to crude oil prices. At the moment, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate is trading at its highest level since late September at $57.30, adding 2.15% on the day.
On the other hand, rising US Treasury bond yields on Monday seem to be helping the Greenback recover last week's losses despite the mixed macroeconomic data releases. After closing the previous week 0.7% lower, the US Dollar Index is now up 0.3% on the day at 97.40.
The data published by the US Census Bureau on Monday showed that Factory Orders contracted by 0.6% in September following August's decline of 0.1% and came in worse than the market estimate of -0.5%. In the meantime, the ISM NY's Business Conditions Index improved 47.7 in October from 42.8 in September.
Technical levels to consider