EUR/CAD holds gains near 1.6150 ahead of Germany Retail Sales data

• EUR/CAD stays firm ahead of Germany’s Retail Sales, with focus later on the Eurozone preliminary December HICP.
• Eurozone Services PMI slowed, while German inflation fell below the ECB’s 2% target, reinforcing an end to tightening.
• The commodity-linked CAD weakens on falling Oil prices amid expectations of renewed US access to Venezuelan crude.

EUR/CAD extends its winning streak for the third consecutive day, trading around 1.6150 during the Asian hours on Wednesday. The currency cross gains ground ahead of Germany’s Retail Sales and Unemployment data for November due later in the day. Attention will be shifted toward the Eurozone’s preliminary Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data for December.

Tuesday’s data showed Eurozone PMIs signaling a slowdown in services activity, while inflation in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, fell below the ECB’s 2% target in December, reinforcing expectations that the ECB has ended its tightening cycle unless growth deteriorates.

The risk-sensitive Euro (EUR) receives support against its major peers amid shrugging off escalating geopolitical tensions worldwide following the US intervention in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

The EUR/CAD cross advances as the commodity-linked Canadian Dollar (CAD) weakens on lower Oil prices, amid expectations of renewed US and corporate access to Venezuela’s crude, dampening Canadian Oil demand from its largest buyer.

Crude Oil prices declined after US President Donald Trump said Venezuela would hand over 30–50 million barrels of crude to the United States. Markets worry that sustained Venezuelan flows could add supply to an already oversupplied market, while traders continue to assess the impact on future exports and the energy sector.

Canada’s Ivey Purchasing Managers Index for December will be watched later in the North American session, with a seasonally adjusted reading of 49.5 expected, up from 48.4 previously.