imageTORONTO: The Canadian dollar was little changed against the greenback on Monday as investors found few catalysts to push the loonie in either direction, while trading was muted as some market participants were still away for Easter holidays.

Some caution earlier in the day had given the currency a modestly negative tone as tension in Ukraine made investors risk-averse.

An agreement reached last week to avert wider conflict in Ukraine appeared to be faltering, with pro-Moscow separatist gunmen showing no sign of surrendering government buildings they have seized.

Recent strength in Canadian economic data had helped the loonie bounce back from the 4-1/2-year low it hit in March, but that rally has run out of steam in the last couple weeks, leaving the currency moving sideways.

The Canadian dollar is likely to remain in a trading range in the short term, said Rahim Madhavji, president at KnightsbridgeFX.com in Toronto.

"If you look at the picture over the last several weeks, the loonie is quite content at the C$1.10 range and it's been pretty much range-bound around that level," he said. "I don't see that changing any time soon."

The C$1.10 level is seen as a key technical level.

The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$1.1015 to the greenback, or 90.79 US cents, weaker than Thursday's close of C$1.1013, or 90.80 US cents. Many financial markets were closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.

Investors will get a look at some domestic economic data later in the week with February wholesale trade on Tuesday and retail sales on Wednesday.

Canadian government bond prices were mixed across the maturity curve, with the two-year up 0.8 Canadian cents to yield 1.070 percent, while the benchmark 10-year was down 5 Canadian cents to yield 2.450 percent.

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