Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher against its Canadian counterpart on Monday, as U.S. data continued to support but the greenback still remained close to a three-month trough amid rising oil prices.
USD/CAD hit 1.3587 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s highest since February 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3527, adding 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3493, the low of December 8 and resistance at 1.3736, the high of February 25.
The greenback remained supported after data on Friday showed that while the U.S. economy slowed in the fourth quarter, the pace of the slowdown was not as steep as initially estimated.
Separate reports, showing consumer spending and inflation rose in January added to the view that the U.S. recovery is on track.
But the commodity-related Canadian dollar also found support as oil prices rose back above $33 a barrel on Monday.
In Canada, data on Monday showed that the current account deficit widened to C$15.4 billion in the fourth quarter from C$15.3 billion in the third quarter, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of C$16.2 billion.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen to C$15.6 billion in the last quarter.
A separate report showed that Canada’s raw materials price index fell 0.4% in January, compared to expectations for a 3.3% decline. Raw materials prices dropped 5.2% in December, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 5.0% slide.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD sliding 0.38% to 1.4714.
In the euro zone, data earlier showed that consumer price inflation fell by 0.2% this month, missing expectations for a gain of 0.1% and following a 0.3% increase in January.
It was the first negative inflation figure since September, when consumer prices fell 0.1%, and is well below the European Central Bank’s target of close to but just below 2.0%.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs increased by 0.7% in February, below forecasts for 0.9% and down from 1.0% a month earlier.