Canadian Dollar Technical Price Outlook: USD/CAD Weekly Trade Levels
- Canadian Dollarupdated technical trade levels – Weekly Chart
- USD/CAD plummets to multi-year lows – initial support in view
- Critical support 1.2579-1.2619 – bearish invalidation lowered to 1.3056
The Canadian Dollar fractionally stronger against the US Dollar into the start of the week with USD/CAD attempting to mark fifth consecutive weekly decline. The Loonie trend has matured and while the broader risk remains titled to the downside, the decline may be vulnerable near-term as price approaches broader downtrend support. These are the updated targets and invalidation levels that matter on the USD/CAD weekly technical price chart heading into the close of the year. Review my latest Strategy Webinar for an in-depth breakdown of this Loonie technical setup and more.
Canadian Dollar Price Chart – USD/CAD Weekly
Chart Prepared by Michael Boutros, Technical Strategist; USD/CAD on Tradingview
Notes: In my last Canadian Dollar Weekly Price Outlook we noted that a multi-week sell-off in USD/CAD had taken price into the yearly range lows and to, “be on the lookout for inflection here early in the month.” A break below yearly-open support at 1.2975 into the December open fueled a sell-off of more than 2.3% with the decline now testing support at the 2017 December high-week reversal close at 1.2725 / lower parallel.
A break / close below this threshold is needed to keep the immediate short-bias viable heading into next week with such a scenario exposing confluence support at the 2018 yearly open / 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of 2017 advance at 1.2579-1.2619 – look for a larger reaction there IF reached. Initial resistance stands with the median-line (currently ~1.2830s) backed by 1.2975 with bearish invalidation now lowered to the 61.8% retracement at 1.3057.
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Bottom line: The USD/CAD breakdown has marked four consecutive weekly declines with the sell-off now testing the first major downtrend support zone. From a trading standpoint, a good zone to reduce short exposure / lower protective stops – be on the lookout for topside exhaustion ahead of the yearly open on recoveries IF price is indeed heading lower. Ultimately a leg lower would have us looking for a larger reaction closer to more significant downtrend support near the 1.26-handle. Review my latest Canadian Dollar Price Outlook for a closer look at the near-term USD/CAD technical trade levels.
For a complete breakdown of Michael’s trading strategy, review his Foundations of Technical Analysis series on Building a Trading Strategy
Canadian Dollar Trader Sentiment – USD/CAD Price Chart
- A summary of IG Client Sentiment shows traders are net-long USD/CAD – the ratio stands at +2.58 (72.04% of traders are long) – typically bearish reading
- Long positions are 4.59% lower than yesterday and 9.16% lower from last week
- Short positions are14.03% lower than yesterday and 0.60% lower from last week
- We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-long suggests USD/CAD prices may continue to fall. Traders are more net-long than yesterday but less net-long from last week. The combination of current positioning and recent changes gives us a further mixed USD/CAD trading bias from a sentiment standpoint.
| Change in | Longs | Shorts | OI |
| Daily | -12% | 18% | -3% |
| Weekly | -14% | 35% | -2% |
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Previous Weekly Technical Charts
— Written by Michael Boutros, Technical Currency Strategist with DailyFX
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