USD/CAD takes a sharp U-turn from 1.30 neighborhood

   •  Intense USD selling prompts some aggressive long-unwinding trade.
   •  Traders eye Canadian Ivey PMI for some fresh impetus.

The USD/CAD pair once again faced rejection near the key 1.30 psychological mark and witnessed a sharp intraday retracement from closer to 8-month tops. 

The pair took a sharp knock and plunged over 130-pips from session high level of 1.2995 after the latest N. Korean headlines triggered a broad-based US Dollar sell-off. The downfall took along some short-term trading stops placed at 1.2960 level and pushed the pair to an intraday low level of 1.2863. 

The selling pressure, however, now seems to have abated a bit, at least for the time being, with the pair quickly recovering around 40-pips from lows to currently trade back around the 1.2900 handle. 

It would now be interesting to see if bulls are able to regain control or some fresh long-unwinding continues exerting some downward pressure as traders now look forward to the release of Canadian Ivey PMI for some fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch

On a sustained weakness below 1.2870-65 area, the pair seems to extend the corrective slide towards 1.2830 intermediate support en-route the 1.2800 handle. On the upside, any meaningful up-move now seems to confront immediate resistance near the 1.2960 area, above which the pair is likely to make a fresh attempt towards conquering the 1.30 handle.