Canadian dollar pads weekly gain

The Canadian dollar edged higher against its US counterpart on Friday, adding to this week's gain as oil prices rose and investors looked for the Bank of Canada to stick to its divergent path from other central banks. Canada's central bank is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75% at a rate decision next Wednesday and through the rest of the year, a Reuters poll showed.

Also next Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve is seen easing for the third time since July. That could lower the range for the Fed's benchmark rate below the Bank of Canada's equivalent rate for the first time since December 2016. "What stands out is that everybody else is easing and the BoC is not," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York.

At 3:17 p.m. (1917 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.1% higher at 1.3061 to the greenback, or 76.56 US cents. The currency, which posted on Thursday its strongest intraday level in more than three months at 1.3053, traded in a narrow range of 1.3058 to 1.3077.

For the week, the loonie was up 0.5%. Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve in sympathy with US Treasuries. The two-year fell 5.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.66% and the 10-year was down 13 Canadian cents to yield 1.537%.