The USD/CAD pair maintained its bid tone through the early European session and was last seen hovering near the top end of its daily trading range, comfortably above the 1.2600 mark. A combination of factors assisted the pair to regain positive traction on the first day of a new trading week and inch back closer to the two-week tops touched last Thursday. Against the backdrop of the upbeat US economic outlook, a softer risk tone helped revive demand for the safe-haven US dollar. Apart from this, a fresh leg down in crude oil prices undermined the commodity-linked loonie and provided an additional boost to the USD/CAD pair.
Investors remained optimistic about the prospects for a relatively faster US economic recovery amid the impressive pace of COVID-19 vaccinations and the passage of a massive stimulus package. The US President Joe Biden – in his first formal news conference on Thursday – made an ambitious pledge of administering 200 million vaccine shots in 100 days. Adding to this, investors have been speculating for another $3.0 trillion infrastructure plan from the US.