C$ steadies vs stronger greenback as Mideast tensions ease

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar steadied against its US counterpart on Thursday after reaching a seven-week high the day before, as ebbing worries of a clash between the US and Russia over Syria boosted the greenback.

The US dollar rose against a basket of major currencies, snapping a four-day losing streak.

"The Canadian dollar is holding up quite well," said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank. "We still think we'll get to 1.25 in the next couple of weeks."

The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, remained close to highs last reached in late 2014 on Mideast tensions and shrinking global oil inventories. US crude oil futures  settled 0.4 percent higher at $67.07 a barrel.

The loonie has also benefited recently from an upbeat business survey from the Bank of Canada, stronger-than-expected domestic jobs data and investor optimism over a deal to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In addition, investors have been weighing prospects for the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will break off a foreign trip to return to Ottawa for a meeting on Sunday with the premiers of two provinces arguing over an oil pipeline, his office said on Thursday.

At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.1 percent lower at C$1.2589 to the greenback, or 79.43 US cents.

The currency traded in a range of C$1.2566 to C$1.2623. It touched on Wednesday its strongest since Feb. 19 at C$1.2545.

Canadian new home prices fell in February for the first time since July 2010 as recent higher interest rates and tighter mortgage regulations put a damper on the market, data from Statistics Canada showed.

Separate data showed that Canadian home prices were unchanged in March as the closely watched Toronto market showed signs of stabilizing. The Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed prices were flat on a monthly basis after dipping 0.1 percent in February.

Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve in sympathy with US Treasuries as demand for safe-haven assets faded.

The two-year fell 7.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.898 percent and the 10-year declined 63 Canadian cents to yield 2.285 percent, its highest since March 21.