* Canadian dollar at C$1.3044, or 76.66 U.S. cents
* Bond prices higher across the maturity curve
TORONTO, July 13 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was barely
weaker against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as investors
awaited the Bank of Canada's first economic update since Britain
voted to leave the European Union.
At 8:49 a.m. EDT (1249 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4
was trading at C$1.3044 to the greenback, or 76.66 U.S. cents,
weaker than the Bank of Canada's official Tuesday close of
C$1.3030, or 76.75 U.S. cents.
The Canadian central bank is expected to hold rates steady
when it releases its quarterly monetary policy report at 10 a.m.
EDT, but the market will be acutely sensitive to changes to the
bank's outlook. A news conference will follow at 11:15 a.m. EDT.
The Bank said in May that it expected the economy to shrink
in the second quarter due to the wildfires that lashed Alberta's
oil hub, before recovering later in the year.
The currency stuck to a tight range in early trade, with its
strongest level at C$1.3023 and its weakest at C$1.3085.
Oil prices fell after the International Energy Agency (IEA)
warned that a global supply glut threatened a price recovery and
data showed an unexpected weekly gain in U.S. crude stocks.
The Canadian dollar was underperforming most of its key
currency counterparts.
Canadian government bond prices were higher across the
maturity curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR price up 8 Canadian
cents to yield 0.466 percent and the benchmark 10-year
CA10YT=RR rising 57 Canadian cents to yield 0.999 percent.
The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was -20.6 basis points,
while the 10-year spread was -47.4 basis points.