USD/CAD refers to pairs with a direct currency quote and indicates how many units of the national currency of Canada (Canadian dollar) are contained in one US dollar. The base currency of the USD/CAD pair is the US dollar. This means that the commodity in the USD/CAD pair is the US dollar, and the Canadian dollar is the second currency in the pair, which buys the base currency (US dollar).
At the moment, the USD/CAD pair is trading on the Forex market at a price close to 1.2700. This means that for one US dollar they give 1.2700 Canadian dollars.
Features of trading the USD/CAD pair
1. The USD/CAD pair is actively traded throughout the trading day. The highest peak of trading activity with the Canadian dollar and the USD/CAD pair and the largest trading volumes occur during the American session (13:00 – 22:00 GMT).
2. The increase in trading volatility in the USD/CAD pair occurs during the publication of important macroeconomic indicators of the two countries and decisions of the Fed or the Bank of Canada regarding monetary policy in the United States or Canada, as well as press conferences of the central banks of the United States and Canada, and speeches by key figures of the central banks of the two countries. Decisions to tighten monetary policy in the US or Canada lead to an increase in the value of the US dollar or, accordingly, the Canadian dollar. And vice versa. If the Fed or the Bank of Canada demonstrate a tendency to ease monetary policy, then the US dollar or the Canadian dollar, respectively, weaken in the foreign exchange market and in relation to each other.
3. The Bank of Canada, like the Fed, also now intends to gradually tighten monetary policy to curb rising inflation. Such an important fundamental factor as the direction of monetary policies in the United States and Canada, along with oil prices, will be decisive in the dynamics of the USD/CAD pair in the coming months.
4. The Canadian dollar has the status of a commodity currency with a high correlation with oil prices (more than 90%). Therefore, the dynamics of oil prices has a strong impact on the quotes of the Canadian dollar. At the same time, the most important trade and economic partner of Canada and the buyer of its energy resources is the United States. In determining the short- and medium-term dynamics of the Canadian dollar, it is important to publish information from the oil market, weekly data on crude oil and petroleum products reserves in the United States. These data are usually published every Tuesday (21:30 GMT), Wednesday (15:30 GMT), and Friday (18:00 GMT) in wintertime. The statements of OPEC representatives and the decisions of this organization also have a strong impact on the quotes of oil prices, and, consequently, the Canadian dollar.
5. In addition to oil prices, the Canadian dollar has a fairly strong correlation with other commodity currencies, primarily with the New Zealand and Australian dollars. Accordingly, the USD/CAD pair has a significant inverse correlation with the AUD/USD and NZD/USD pairs. Also, when oil prices rise, as a rule, along with the Canadian dollar, the main US stock indices grow, primarily the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average due to the growth of shares of oil and gas companies.
6 . The USD/CAD pair has fairly even volatility throughout the trading day. The intraday volatility of the pair fluctuates in different periods of the year. On average, it is 100-130 points, but it can rise sharply during periods of publication of important macroeconomic indicators for the US or Canada.
