U.S. dollar attempts to stay above the level of 1.34 against the Loonie

The U.S. dollar attempts to stay above the level of 1.34 against the Loonie, or Canadian dollar (USD/CAD currency pair). However, it’s getting more difficult to do so amid the prevalent selling of the American currency.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell announced that the central bank is ready to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes and to ease the country’s monetary policy. This statement caused the weakening of the U.S. dollar by provoking the “bulls” to take defensive positions.

Ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC+) meeting, the rise of crude oil prices has stalled, thereby slowing down the growth of the commodity-linked Canadian dollar and supporting the USD/CAD currency pair. The last OPEC+ members’ meeting of the year will be held on Sunday. Until then, the market remains uncertain whether there will be another oil supply cut.

At present, traders stay focused on the U.S. PCE price index inflation data and short-term opportunities of the ISM Manufacturing PMI. All of these indices, along with the U.S. Treasury bond yields, also have an impact on the American currency.