USD/CAD consolidates gains to 1-1/2 month tops, Trump awaited

   •  Broad-based USD strength helps break through a 2-week old trading range.
   •  Weaker oil prices further weigh on Loonie and remain supportive of the move.

The USD/CAD pair now seems to have entered a bullish consolidation phase and was seen oscillating in a narrow trading range, just below 1-1/2 month tops touched earlier today.

The relentless US Dollar upsurge remained uninterrupted on Tuesday, with a modest retracement in crude oil prices weighing on the commodity-linked currency - Loonie and providing an additional boost to the pair's bullish move. 

A combination of supporting factors helped the pair to finally broke out of its broader trading range, held over the past two weeks or so, and take along short-term trading stops placed near the 1.2915-20 region. The momentum pushed the pair to an intraday high level of 1.2985 during the early European session, albeit lacked any strong follow-through.

It would now be interesting to see if the ongoing momentum is strong enough to lift the pair beyond the key 1.3000 psychological mark as investors keenly await the US President Donald Trump's decision on the Iran nuclear deal, scheduled to be announced at 1800 GMT.

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through buying interest beyond the 1.30 handle has the potential to continue boosting the pair further towards 1.3045 intermediate resistance en-route the 1.3090-1.3100 supply zone.

On the flip side, retracement back below the 1.2950-45 immediate support now seems to find fresh buying interest near the 1.2915-20 resistance break-point and hence, any subsequent fall is likely to be limited near the 1.2900 handle.