Dollar eases slightly ahead of various US economic data releases
Canadian dollar rises on reports of Trudeau39;s likely resignation
Yuan struggles on weaker side of 7.3 per dollar

SINGAPORE, Jan 6 Reuters The dollar eased on Monday but held close to a twoyear peak, as traders awaited a raft of U.S. economic data this week headlined by December39;s nonfarm payrolls report for further clues on the Federal Reserve39;s rate outlook.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is increasingly likely to announce he intends to step down, though he has not made a final decision, a source told Reuters. The Globe and Mail earlier reported that Trudeau was expected to announce his resignation as early as Monday.

Markets appear to have largely priced that in and might welcome an election to clarify matters, leaving the U.S. dollar down 0.36 against its Canadian counterpart to C1.4395 .

Also in focus was the Chinese yuan, which on Friday weakened past the psychological level of 7.3 per dollar in the onshore market for the first time in 14 months, after the People39;s Bank of China PBOC had aggressively defended that key threshold for most of December.

The onshore yuan slid a 16month low of 7.3289 per dollar, while its offshore counterpart ticked up 0.06 to 7.3558.

The PBOC looks to have stopped defending that 7.30 level, said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank NAB.

That just draws a lot more attention to what the PBOC does from a fixing perspective…