By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- The Canadian dollar gained against its US counterpart on Thursday, following the Bank of Canada's decision yesterday to recommence their tightening strategy.
However, this rise in the commodity-linked loonie was somewhat restrained due to declining oil prices., making the Canadian dollar the laggard in the G-10 currencies. Oil prices tumbled on report suggesting a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that would allow Iran to legally export some of its sanctioned oil, although this report was later denied by the White House.
Meanwhile, the US dollar retreated as data showed an increase in new unemployment claims filed by Americans last week, reaching its highest point in over one-and-a-half years, buoying investor hopes that the Federal Reserve might deviate from its hawkishness.
On a technical level, analysts at FX Street note that the USD/CAD pair continues to form a double top, or M pattern. Looking ahead for the pair, "The key floor to watch is 1.3300."
"If the double top is validated, USD/CAD could decline sharply, although this scenario may take time to play out. Anyhow, the size of the potential downward slump can be obtained by projecting vertically the height of the pattern from the breakpoint. For the pair, this could mean pullback toward 1.2960."
Up next for the pair, all eyes will be on the Fed's decision next week.