Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to one-and-a-half week highs against its Canadian counterpart on Tuesday, as demand for the greenback strengthened ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen scheduled later in the day.
USD/CAD hit 1.2664 in early U.S. trade, the pair's highest since February 11; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2622, gaining 0.38%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2417, the low of February 20 and resistance at 1.2699, the high of February 11.
Market participants were looking ahead to testimony by Fed Chair Janet Yellen before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington later in the day for any indication on when U.S. interest rates may start to rise.
Last week’s minutes of the Fed’s January meeting were more dovish than expected, showing that some officials thought that raising rates too soon could weigh on the U.S. economic recovery, and that a deterioration in the global economic outlook could also pose a threat.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar remained under pressure after weak domestic retail sales data published last Friday was seen as increasing the likelihood of another rate cut by the country’s central bank.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.29% to 1.4293.