C$ dips to near one-week low as oil prices decline

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart on Thursday, approaching the previous day's one-week low, as oil prices fell and domestic data showed a smaller than usual rise in June home prices.

Canadian home prices rose 0.8% in June from the prior month, thanks to a seasonal boost, but the increase was lower than the month's 21-year average, data showed.

A separate report from ADP, a human resources solutions company, showed that Canada added 30,400 jobs in June, as hiring rebounded after a sharp decline in May.

Meanwhile, the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, fell even as Iran said it had seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf. US crude oil futures were down 0.3% at $56.59 a barrel, At 9:22 a.m. (1322 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3073 to the greenback, or 76.49 US cents. The currency, which touched on Wednesday a one-week low at 1.3093, traded in a range of 1.3042 to 1.3075.

Still, the loonie has been the top performing G10 currency this year, rising 4.4% against the US dollar. It has been boosted in recent weeks by expected divergence in interest rate decisions between the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve.

The Bank of Canada made clear last week it had no intention of easing monetary policy, while the Fed is expected to cut interest rates at the end of this month.

Canadian government bond prices were mixed across a steeper yield curve, with the two-year up 0.8 Canadian cents to yield 1.481% and the 10-year declining 9 Canadian cents to yield 1.537%.

Earlier in the session, the 10-year yield touched its lowest since July 5 at 1.505%.

Canada's retail sales report for May is due on Friday.