TORONTO: The Canadian dollar was little changed against its US counterpart on Thursday, with the currency holding near a two-week high as oil prices climbed and investors tracked developments in talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, was up 7.1% at $101.76 a barrel, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said three million barrels a day (bpd) of Russian oil and products could be shut in from next month.

The safe-haven US dollar fell against a basket of major currencies after the Kremlin said that Russia was putting colossal energy into talks on a possible peace deal with Ukraine, while the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision on Wednesday failed to affect the market as the bar for a hawkish surprise was high.

The Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2675 to the greenback, or 78.90 US cents, after touching its strongest level since March 3 at 1.2653.

The two-week high for the loonie came after data on Wednesday showed that Canada’s annual inflation rate climbed to a fresh 30-year high, bolstering the case for the Bank of Canada to move forcefully on interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, Canada’s second-biggest railway has said it will lock out its employees in 72 hours if there is no agreement in wage negotiations with a union, a move that would potentially disrupt the movement of grain, potash and coal at a time of soaring commodity prices.