USD/CAD struggles near 1-month lows, around 1.3200 handle ahead of US CPI

   •  The USD bulls remain on the defensive amid dovish Fed expectations and exert pressure.
   •  The ongoing bullish run in oil prices underpin Loonie and add to the recent selling bias.
   •  Today’s key release of the US consumer inflation figures eyed for some fresh impetus.

The USD/CAD pair held on to its weaker tone through the mid-European trading session, albeit once again managed to find some support ahead of 100-day SMA.

After yesterday’s attempted rebound, the pair came under some renewed selling pressure on Friday and drifted back closer to over one-month lows amid some renewed US Dollar selling bias. 

The Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on Thursday, reiterating the idea of being patient on the next rate hike move, added to dovish FOMC minutes and kept the USD bulls on the defensive.

This coupled with the ongoing bullish run in crude oil prices provided an additional boost to the dollar-denominated currency – Loonie and further collaborated to the pair’s weaker tone on the last trading day of the week. 

It would now be interesting to see if the pair continues defending the 100-DMA support or extends its recent sharp retracement slide from over 19-month tops, setting the stage for the lowest weekly close since mid-November. 

Moving ahead, today’s US economic docket, highlighting the release of consumer inflation figures, will now be looked upon for some fresh/meaningful trading impetus during the early North-American session.

Technical levels to watch

On a sustained break through the mentioned support, currently near the 1.3170 region, the pair is likely to accelerate the fall further towards 1.3130 intermediate support en-route the 1.3100 round figure mark.

On the flip side, any meaningful recovery attempt might now confront some fresh supply near the 1.3230-35 region, above which a bout of short-covering might assist the pair to aim towards reclaiming the 1.3300 handle.