Investing.com - The U.S. dollar trimmed gains against its Canadian counterpart on Monday, after the release of upbeat Canadian data, although hopes for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year kept the greenback near a seven-month peak.
USD/CAD pulled back from 1.3559, the pair’s highest since March, to hit 1.3344 during early U.S. trade, steady for the day.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3220, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.3553.
Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales rose 0.8% in August, exceeding expectations for an uptick of 0.6%.
Wholesale sales inched up 0.1% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.3% gain.
But the dollar remained broadly supported after New York Fed President William Dudley said last week that the U.S. central bank will likely raise interest rates later this year if the economy remains on its current trajectory.
On Friday, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that "this year would be good" for a rate rise that he had wanted to take effect last month.
Growing expectations that Hillary Clinton will win the U.S. presidential election have also added to the view that a December rate hike is likely.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD gaining 0.25% to 1.4535.
Research group Markit said on Monday that its euro zone composite purchasing managers’ index, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors, increased to a 10-month high of 53.7 October, from the prior month’s reading of 52.6.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 52.8 this month.
Earlier Monday, Markit said its German manufacturing PMI rose to 55.1 in October from 54.3 the previous month, beating expectations for an unchanged reading. The German services PMI climbed to 54.1 this month from 50.9.
Markit also said its French manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 in October from 49.7 the previous month, exceeding expectations for a reading of 50.0. However, the French services PMI slipped to 52.1 this month from 53.3.
But the single currency remained under pressure since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated last week that the bank may extend its stimulus program in December.