TORONTO: The Canadian dollar strengthened to a near 3-month high against its US counterpart on Thursday as oil prices rose and the greenback extended losses that began after US President-elect Donald Trump's news conference a day earlier.
The US dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, pressured by a loss of confidence in the US reflation trade which has dominated markets since Trump's election.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose on reports key OPEC members were cutting production as promised and on forecasts of strong demand growth in China.
US crude prices were up 2.26 percent at $53.43 a barrel.
At 9:19 a.m. ET (1419 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at C$1.3093 to the greenback, or 76.38 US cents, stronger than Wednesday's close of C$1.3177, or 75.89 US cents.
The currency's weakest level of the session was C$1.3195, while it touched its strongest since Oct. 19 at C$1.3028.
Gains for the loonie follow upbeat domestic data since the start of the year, including a surge in jobs in December and the first trade surplus in more than two years in November while a Bank of Canada survey pointed to improving business conditions.
Canadian government bond prices were higher across a flatter yield curve in sympathy with US Treasuries.
The two-year rose 2.7 Canadian cents to yield 0.767 percent and the 10-year climbed 24 Canadian cents to yield 1.650 percent.
Canadian new housing prices rose 0.2 percent in November from October amid price increases across much of Ontario, Statistics Canada said.
Separately, the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index showed home prices rose 0.3 percent in December from a month earlier as prices continued to soar in Toronto, the biggest market, and Victoria, while Vancouver prices fell again.
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