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AUD/CAD remains in the positive territory after recovering its daily losses, trading around 0.9520 during the European hours on Friday. However, the upside of the currency cross could be limited as the commodity-linked Canadian Dollar (CAD) receives support from higher Oil prices. Traders will watch Canada’s labor market data and Ivey Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for January due for release later in the North American session.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Oil price advances after registering modest losses in the previous session, trading around $64.00 per barrel at the time of writing. However, WTI price is on track for a weekly decline after six consecutive weeks of gains, largely driven by expectations surrounding a United States (US)–Iran meeting scheduled later in the day.

Any meaningful progress in US-Iran talks could ease near-term fears of military escalation and potential supply disruptions involving the major OPEC producer, which accounts for roughly one-third of global crude output.

The AUD/CAD cross also came under pressure as the Australian Dollar (AUD) weakened amid broad-based selling in global equities and other risk-sensitive assets. The commodity-linked AUD, often viewed as a liquid proxy for global risk sentiment, was hit by a tech-led equity sell-off driven by concerns over heavy AI-related spending, which unsettled investor confidence.

However, the AUD later regained some ground against its major peers following comments from Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock, who said the board raised the Official Cash Rate (OCR) as the economy is more capacity-constrained than previously assessed, requiring a tighter policy stance. Bullock added that the RBA must curb demand growth unless supply capacity expands more rapidly.

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