Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose to session highs against the Canadian dollar on Wednesday, ahead of the keenly anticipated outcome of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting of the year.
USD/CAD hit highs of 1.0646, the strongest since December 13, and was last up 0.33% to 1.0641.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0575, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.0668, the high of December 13.
Investors remained wary ahead of the outcome of the Fed’s policy setting meeting later in the session, with some expecting the bank to announce a small reduction in the pace of its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.
However, many believe that the bank will wait until early next year to start rolling back stimulus, despite recent indications the U.S. economic recovery is deepening.
The greenback was boosted after data on Wednesday showed that U.S. housing starts rose to the highest level in nearly six years in November.
U.S. housing starts rose to 1.09 million units, the Commerce Department said, from 0.89 million in October, compared to expectations for an increase to 0.95 million units.
Building permits in the U.S. fell 3.1% to 1.01 million units in November, from 1.04 million units the previous month. Analysts had expected building permits to drop 4.7% last month to 0.99 million units.
In Canada, official data showed that wholesale sales rose 1.4% in October, beating expectations for a 0.4% gain, after a 0.2% uptick the previous month.
Elsewhere, the loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was down against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.28% to 1.4644.
In the euro zone, data released on Wednesday showed that the Ifo German business climate index rose to a 20-month high of 109.5 in December, in line with forecasts and up from 109.3 in November.
USD/CAD hit highs of 1.0646, the strongest since December 13, and was last up 0.33% to 1.0641.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0575, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.0668, the high of December 13.
Investors remained wary ahead of the outcome of the Fed’s policy setting meeting later in the session, with some expecting the bank to announce a small reduction in the pace of its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.
However, many believe that the bank will wait until early next year to start rolling back stimulus, despite recent indications the U.S. economic recovery is deepening.
The greenback was boosted after data on Wednesday showed that U.S. housing starts rose to the highest level in nearly six years in November.
U.S. housing starts rose to 1.09 million units, the Commerce Department said, from 0.89 million in October, compared to expectations for an increase to 0.95 million units.
Building permits in the U.S. fell 3.1% to 1.01 million units in November, from 1.04 million units the previous month. Analysts had expected building permits to drop 4.7% last month to 0.99 million units.
In Canada, official data showed that wholesale sales rose 1.4% in October, beating expectations for a 0.4% gain, after a 0.2% uptick the previous month.
Elsewhere, the loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was down against the euro, with EUR/CAD rising 0.28% to 1.4644.
In the euro zone, data released on Wednesday showed that the Ifo German business climate index rose to a 20-month high of 109.5 in December, in line with forecasts and up from 109.3 in November.