Canada's central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady at 1.75pc on Wednesday as expected but removed wording about the need for future rate hikes and lowered its growth forecast for 2019, to 1.2pc from 1.7pc.

The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, edged lower but held near the highest in about six months as quality concerns forced the suspension of some Russian crude exports to Europe while the United States prepared to tighten sanctions on Iran.

US crude oil futures were down 0.2pc at $65.79 a barrel. At 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT), the Canadian dollar

was trading 0.1pc higher at 1.3488 to the greenback, or 74.14 US cents. The currency, which hit a nearly four-month low on Wednesday at 1.3522, traded in a range of 1.3484 to 1.3517.

Data showing new orders for US-made capital goods increased by the most in eight months in March helped support the US dollar, which notched its highest in about two years against a basket of major currencies before turning lower.

The number of Canadian nonfarm payroll employees rose by 31,700 in February from January, while average weekly earnings slowed on an annual basis to 1.1pc from 1.9pc, data from Statistics Canada showed.

Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve, with the two-year down 4 Canadian cents to yield 1.535pc and the 10-year falling 19 Canadian cents to yield 1.696pc. On Wednesday, the 10-year yield hit its lowest intraday since April 2 at 1.649pc.