(Adds fresh strategist comment, closing figures, details)
* Canadian dollar at C$1.3255 or 75.44 U.S. cents
* Bond prices mostly lower across the maturity curve
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar extended
gains against a weaker U.S. dollar on Thursday, as market
attention shifted away from quarter-end positioning to broader
themes including when the U.S. Federal Reserve will finally make
its interest rate move.
The currency had softened to an 11-year intraday low of
C$1.3457 against the greenback earlier this week, before
bouncing higher following data that show faster-than-expected
economic growth in Canada, and month- and quarter-end
settlements.
"I think there was a lot of interest to buy (U.S.) dollars
across the board. ... As soon as the (month-end) fixing was out
of the way yesterday, USD/CAD traded one direction lower," said
David Bradley, director of foreign exchange trading at
Scotiabank.
The Canadian dollar CAD=D4 finished at C$1.3255 to the
greenback, or 75.44 U.S. cents, sharply firmer than the Bank of
Canada's official close of C$1.3345, or 74.93 U.S. cents on
Wednesday.
The loonie, which was outperforming nearly all of its key
currency counterparts, hit C$1.3219 at one point during the
session, but pared gains as trading turned choppy in the
equities and crude markets.
Crude oil, a major Canadian export, surged earlier in part
on worries about potential damage to oil installations from a
hurricane headed for the U.S. East Coast, but turned flat as
those worries faded. Plunging crude prices have dragged the
loonie down sharply over the last year and remains a significant
driver for the currency. O/R
The U.S. dollar, which pulled back after data showed the
pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector remained at or
near levels not seen since 2013, also helped the Canadian
dollar. The figures indicated that a softening global economy
could complicate the Fed's plans to hike rates.
ID:nL1N1210UK ECONUS
U.S. labor market data, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT, will be the
main attraction on Friday.
Canadian government bond prices were generally lower across
the maturity curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR price up 1.5
Canadian cents to yield 0.527 percent and the benchmark 10-year
CA10YT=RR up 4 Canadian cents to yield 1.427 percent.
The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was -12.2 basis points,
while the 10-year spread was -61.5 basis points.