On Monday the greenback was almost unchanged against the loonie, trading close to more than five-year highs as trading
volumes were expected to remain thin with U.S. markets closed for a
national holiday.
USD/CAD hit 1.1986 during early U.S. trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.1972. The pair was likely to find support at 1.1799, the low of January 15 and resistance at 1.2046, the high of January 16 and a more than five-year peak.
The greenback was broadly underpinned after the Swiss National Bank abandoned its three-year old 1.20 per euro exchange rate cap in a shock move last Thursday.
Moreover, the University of Michigan said, in a preliminary report on Friday, that its consumer sentiment index rose to a 11-year high of 98.2 this month from 93.6 in December, compared to expectations for a rise to 94.1.
In Canada, official data signaled that foreign securities purchases slowed to C$4.29 billion in November from C$9.53 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected foreign securities purchases to fall to C$7.23 billion in November.
The Canadian dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD gaining 0.29% to 1.3904. Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable amid growing expectations that the European Central Bank will launch a government bond-buying program at its meeting on Thursday, in a bid to battle the threat of deflation in the euro area.
