USD/CAD headed back to session low, focus on FOMC minutes

The USD/CAD pair maintained its offered tone amid broad based greenback retracement and is now approaching the lower end of daily trading range.

Currently hovering around 1.3220 region, the pair reversed part of Tuesday's strong gains led by a stronger US Dollar, which gained traction on increasing prospects of an eventual Fed rate-hike action by the end of this year. Renewed strength in WTI crude oil (now back above $51.00/barrel mark) on Wednesday is benefitting the commodity-linked currency, loonie. This coupled with a minor pull-back in the overall US Dollar Index is exerting some selling pressure around the USD/CAD major. 

Later during NY trading session, speeches from couple of FOMC members - William Dudley and Esther George, along with the release of minutes from FOMC's latest monetary policy meeting will help investors determine the Fed's near-term monetary policy outlook and eventually drive the pair in the near-term.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate downside support is pegged around 1.3200 region (200-day SMA), which if broken decisively is likely to drag the pair further towards 1.3060 horizontal support. Meanwhile on the upside, momentum above 1.3240 immediate hurdle could get extended towards session high resistance near 1.3265 region above which the pair seems to aim back towards reclaiming 1.3300 handle.