* Canadian dollar at C$1.3238, or 75.54 U.S. cents
* Loonie touches its strongest since Feb. 28 at C$1.3224
* Bond prices little changed across the yield curve
* 10-year yield hits a nearly 5-month low intraday
TORONTO, April 13 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened on Thursday to a fresh six-week high against its U.S. counterpart as oil prices rose and domestic manufacturing sales fell less-than-expected, while the greenback lost ground against a basket of major currencies.
The greenback fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said it was getting too strong and that he would prefer the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose after an International Energy Agency report said the market was close to balance. O/R
U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 0.30 percent at $53.27 a barrel.
Canadian manufacturing sales fell 0.2 percent in February after three consecutive months of increases, weighed down by declines in the vehicle assembly sector, data from Statistics Canada showed.
The decrease was not as steep as the 0.7 percent decline economists had expected, while sales volumes rose 0.1 percent. manufacturing is still on an upward trajectory, and will contribute solidly to GDP growth" said Bill Adams, senior international economist at The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) in a research note.
At 9:15 a.m. ET (1315 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading at C$1.3238 to the greenback, or 75.54 U.S. cents, stronger than the Bank of Canada's official close on Wednesday of C$1.3273, or 75.34 U.S. cents.
The currency's weakest level of the session was C$1.3255, while it touched its strongest since Feb. 28 at C$1.3224.
Gains for the loonie came one day after the Bank of Canada turned less dovish, saying it did not even consider cutting interest rates as it left monetary policy unchanged amid signs of strong growth. government bond prices were little changed across the yield curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR flat to yield 0.725 percent and the 10-year CA10YT=RR edging up 1 Canadian cent to yield 1.505 percent.
Still, the 10-year yield touched its lowest intraday since Nov. 17 at 1.494 percent, while U.S. benchmark yields hovered near a five-month trough. markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.