Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to two-and-a-half week highs against its Canadian counterpart on Tuesday, after the release of positive U.S. housing sector data, although gains were capped by caution surrounding the passage of a U.S. tax reform bill this week.
Trading volumes were expected to become more and more thin throughout the week, ahead of the Christmas holiday.
USD/CAD was steady at 1.2867 by 09:30 a.m. ET (13:30 GMT).
The dollar shrugged off data on Tuesday showing that the number of U.S. housing starts unexpectedly increased in November, while building permits declined much less than expected.
Investors remained cautious as the U.S. tax reform bill was to set to enter the final stages of approval with the House of Representatives expected to vote on the bill at around 1:30 p.m. ET (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday. The Senate vote is expected to follow either later on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
Republicans have convinced their holdouts to back the bill, suggesting that the proposal with me swept through the Republican-controlled Congress for a final signature into law by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD gaining 0.55% to 1.5238.