Investing.com - The U.S. dollar pushed lower against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged and expressed optimism regarding the country’s perspectives for growth.
USD/CAD hit 1.3060 during U.S. morning trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3046, declining 0.48%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2996, the low of September 22 and resistance at 1.3141, Tuesday’s high.
The BoC left its overnight cash rate unchanged at 0.50%, in line with market expectations, as well as keeping the bank rate a 0.75% and the deposit rate at 0.25%.
The BoC also said the global economy was expected to regain momentum in the the second half of this year and through 2017 and 2018.
For Canada, the Bank projected growth of 1.1% in 2016 with an increase to “about 2%” in both 2017 and 2018.
The commodity-related Canadian dollar was also lifted by a sharp rise in oil prices on Wednesday, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a statement that a planned production cut was achievable.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the U.S. dollar remained fragile after a mixed batch of U.S. housing sector data released earlier in the session.
The U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts slumped 9.0% to 1.047 million units last month from August’s total of 1.150 million units, revised from the initial 1.142 million.
Analysts had expected a rise of 2.5% from the initial number to 1.175 million in August.
Meanwhile, building permits rose 6.3% to 1.225 million units last month from 1.152 million in August. Economists had forecast a 0.9% gain to 1.165 million units in September.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD dropping 0.53% to 1.4317.