C$ notches 9-month high, underpinned by BoC steady rate outlook

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar strengthened to a near nine-month high against its US counterpart on Friday, adding to its gains since mid-week when the Bank of Canada made clear it had no intention of easing monetary policy.

The signal from Canada's central bank that interest rates are on hold has contrasted with dovish guidance from the US Federal Reserve.

Investors are betting that the Fed will cut interest rates at the end of this month and ease further by October.

At 9:22 a.m. (1322 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.3% higher at 1.3033 to the greenback, or 76.73 US cents. The currency touched its strongest level since Oct. 25, last year at 1.3018.

The loonie was on track to rise 0.4% for the week. It has climbed 4.7% since the start of the 2019, the best performance among G10 currencies.

Adding to support for the loonie on Friday, the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose as US oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico cut more than half their output because of a tropical storm and as tensions continued to simmer in the Middle East.

US crude oil futures were up 0.2% at $60.34 a barrel.

Canadian government bond prices were mixed across a flatter yield curve, with the two-year down 0.5 Canadian cent to yield 1.608% and the 10-year rising 1 Canadian cent to yield 1.628%.

Earlier in the day, the 10-year yield touched its highest since May 24 at 1.649%.