Investing.com - The U.S. dollar climbed to two-week highs against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, after weak Canadian retail sales data and as investors eyed the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting amid growing hopes for a U.S. rate hike as soon as next month.
USD/CAD hit 1.3202 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since February 8; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3186, advancing 0.33%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3097, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.3215, the high of February 7.
Statistics Canada reported that retail sales fell 0.5% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise. Retail sales increased 0.3% in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.2% uptick.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, slipped 0.3% in December, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.6%.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said late Monday that she would be “comfortable” raising interest rates at this point as inflation pressures pick up.
However, Minneapolis Fed head Neel Kashkari on Tuesday said the U.S. labor market has "more room to run," indicating that he does not believe the central bank should raise rates quickly.
The comments came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that a rate increase would be appropriate at one of the Fed’s forthcoming meetings.
Investors were eyeing the minutes from the Fed’s January meeting, due later Wednesday, for further indications on the pace of rate hikes.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.20% to 1.3874.