Investing.com - The U.S. dollar climbed to one-week highs against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged and downgraded its outlook for growth.
USD/CAD hit 1.3075 during U.S. morning trade, the pair's highest since October 13; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3055, gaining 0.56%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2897, the low of October 19 and resistance at 1.3176, the high of October 5.
At the conclusion of its policy meeting, the BoC decided to hold its benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move, and downgraded its economic outlook citing the "complex" aftershocks of lower oil prices.
The BoC also said the Canadian economy will grow just 2% in 2016 and 2.5% in 2017, down from previous forecasts of 2.3% and 2.6%.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported by data on Tuesday showing that U.S. housing starts rose 6.5% to 1.206 million units last month from August’s total of 1.132 million units.
However, the report also showed that the number of building permits issued dropped by 5.0% to 1.103 million units from August’s total of 1.170 million.
The loonie was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD advancing 0.72% to 1.4837.
The single currency found some support ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday amid speculation that it could flag plans to enlarge its stimulus program.