USD/CAD rallies to mid-1.3700s amid broad-based USD strength, sliding oil prices

• USD/CAD catches aggressive bids on Thursday and is supported by a combination of factors.
• A fresh leg up in the US bond yields, the risk-off impulse revives demand for the greenback.
• Sliding crude oil prices undermines the loonie and provides an additional boost to the major.

The USD/CAD pair attracts fresh buying near the 1.3600 mark on Thursday and stalls the previous day's sharp retracement slide from its highest level since May 2020. The intraday positive move lifts spot prices to levels just above mid-1.3700s during the early European session and is sponsored by a combination of factors.

Following the previous day's dramatic turnaround from a new two-decade high, the US dollar makes a solid comeback and turns out to be a key factor offering support to the USD/CAD pair. Apart from this, a fresh leg down in crude oil prices undermines the commodity-linked loonie and provides an additional boost to spot prices.

As investors digest the Bank of England's intervention to stabilize the market for gilts, expectations for faster rate hikes by the Fed allow the US Treasury bond yields to reverse a part of the overnight slump. This, along with the risk-off impulse, revives demand for the safe-haven greenback and offers support to the USD/CAD pair.

The market sentiment remains fragile amid concerns that a more aggressive policy tightening by the Fed will push the economy into recession. Investors also seem concerned that a deeper economic downturn will dent fuel demand, which, to a larger extent, offsets worries about a tight global supply. This, in turn, fails to assist the black liquid to capitalize on the overnight strong recovery from the vicinity of a multi-month low.

The aforementioned fundamental factors suggest that the path of least resistance for the USD/CAD pair is to the upside. This, in turn, supports prospects for the resumption of the recent appreciating move witnessed over the past two weeks or so. Market participants now look forward to Thursday's economic releases from the US and Canada, which, along with oil price dynamics, should provide a fresh impetus to the USD/CAD pair.

Technical levels to watch