Forex - USD/CAD hits fresh daily high after U.S. retail sales decline

Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar hit a fresh daily high against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, amid rising risk aversion after official data showed both U.S. retail sales and import prices fell more than expected in June.

USD/CAD hit 1.0372 during European afternoon trade, a fresh daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0354, gaining 0.48%.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.0275, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.0454, the high of July 9.

Earlier in the day, the Census Bureau said U.S. retail and food services sales for June fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.5%, after declining 1.1% in May, whose figure was revised up from 1.2%.

Analysts had expected a drop of 0.2% in June.

A separate report said U.S. import prices fell 1.3% in June, after advancing 0.5% in May, whose figure was revised up from 0.6%.

Analysts had expected a drop of 0.3% in June.

The Canadian dollar was also down against the euro, with EUR/CAD gaining 0.31% to hit 1.3154.

Later Wednesday, the U.S. was set to publish data on crude oil inventories. This looked set to have an impact on the loonie as the U.S. is a major importer of Canadian oil.