* Canadian dollar at C$1.3114, or 76.25 U.S. cents
* Loonie touches its weakest since July 29 at C$1.3148
* Bond prices mixed across the maturity curve
TORONTO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The commodity-linked Canadian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as the greenback recovered slightly after recent losses and oil prices pared gains.
Oil was slightly higher after hitting its lowest since April the previous day, supported by an industry report showing a fall in U.S. inventories. U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 0.33 percent to $39.64 a barrel, but trading well below the day's high. O/R
The U.S. dollar .DXY firmed against a basket of major currencies after having hit a five-week low on Tuesday. Gains for the greenback came as U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above economists' expectations. 9:34 a.m. EDT (1334 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading at C$1.3114 to the greenback, or 76.25 U.S. cents, slightly weaker than Tuesday's close of C$1.3102, or 76.32 U.S. cents.
The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.3081, while it touched its weakest since July 29 at C$1.3148.
The Canadian dollar is expected to weaken slightly against the U.S. dollar over the coming months, a Reuters poll found, with a sluggish domestic economy and lower oil prices seen weighing on the commodity-linked currency. government bond prices were mixed across the maturity curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR bond up 0.5 Canadian cent to yield 0.556 percent and the benchmark 10-year CA10YT=RR falling 12 Canadian cents to yield 1.09 percent.
The curve steepened as the spread between the 2-year and 10-year yields widened by 1.5 basis points to 53.4 basis points, indicating underperformance for longer-dated maturities. Last week the spread touched its narrowest since June 2008.
Canada's international trade data for June and employment report for July are awaited on Friday. ECONCA