USD/CAD Trades Sideways Ahead of Crucial Labor Data

The USD/CAD currency pair is edging up to near 1.4023 in the European trading session, as investors await labor market data for July from both the United States and Canada.

Analysts at Danske Bank expect a solid labor backdrop, forecasting nonfarm payrolls at +70k, an unemployment rate unchanged at 4.2%, and average hourly earnings at +0.3% m/m s.a. in the US jobs report.

The Canadian labor market report is expected to show that the economy created 15K fresh jobs, slightly lower than 18.2K in June, with the Unemployment Rate seen as steady at 6.5%.

A Bullish Flag chart pattern suggests that the overall trend is still bullish for USD/CAD, despite price holding below the 20-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 1.4062.