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• USD/CAD gains ground to around 1.4320 in Wednesday’s late American session.
• The Fed kept its benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5% at its March meeting on Wednesday. 
• Traders brace for the BoC's Governor Macklem speech.

The USD/CAD pair gathers strength to around 1.4320 during the late American session on Wednesday. The Greenback edges higher against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) as the Federal Reserve (Fed) held the interest rate steady at the March meeting, as expected. The Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Tiff Macklem is scheduled to speak later on Thursday about tariff-related uncertainty.

The US central bank decided to hold its benchmark interest rate steady for a second straight meeting on Wednesday amid mounting concerns that the economy is slowing and inflation could remain stubbornly high. Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the high degree of uncertainty from US President Donald Trump’s significant policy changes, adding that the Fed officials can wait for more clarity on the impact of those policies on the economy before acting.

New economic projections indicated that Fed officials marked down their forecasts for growth this year, but they still see another half percentage point of rate cuts through 2025. The more hawkish remarks from Fed officials on rates from December provide some support to the US Dollar (USD) broadly. 

On the other hand, a rebound in Crude Oil prices amid the rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could boost the commodity-linked Loonie and create a headwind for USD/CAD. It’s worth noting that Canada is the largest oil exporter to the United States (US), and higher crude oil prices tend to have a positive impact on the CAD value.

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