(Recasts throughout; adds ForexLive quote, closing figures,
positioning)
* Canadian dollar at C$1.3345, or 74.93 U.S. cents
* Bond prices mostly fall across the maturity curve
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar rallied
against the greenback on Wednesday, bolstered in part by data
showing faster-than-expected economic growth in Canada, and by
month- and quarter-end settlements.
The currency, which had softened to an 11-year intraday low
of C$1.3457 in the previous session, rallied as much as
C$1.3324.
"The end-of-the-month and quarter-end is a time when it's
extremely difficult to make sense of the day-to-day moves," said
Adam Button, currency analyst at ForexLive, noting the loonie's
moves relative to the price of crude, a key Canadian export.
"The correlation was entirely backwards today. That just
outlines the nature of flows ... Betting against the Canadian
dollar has been great trade this quarter. Some of that is
unwinding. At the same time, stock market sentiment is very
strong today."
The Canadian dollar ended at C$1.3345 to the U.S.
dollar, or 74.93 U.S. cents, stronger than the Bank of Canada's
official close of C$1.3418, or 74.53 U.S. cents on Tuesday.
Button noted however, that October is typically a seasonally
weak month for the Canadian dollar. And despite Wednesday's
bounce, he and other strategists still see the currency
softening further.
"The view on Canada is just so negative right now, it's
probably going to be tough for the Canadian dollar to gain
meaningful traction," said BMO Capital Markets senior economist
Benjamin Reitzes.
The Canadian economy grew 0.3 percent in July, more than the
0.2 percent economists had been forecasting, in the second
straight month of expansion after a dismal first five months of
the year.
"I think it's pretty encouraging that the Canadian economy
has bounced back," said Reitzes. He noted, however, that a
rebound in oil prices that drove a large part of the July
increase was probably unsustainable.
Investor attention will shift toward U.S. employment data
for September, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Friday. Economists are
forecasting 203,000 new jobs.
A report by payrolls processor ADP showed U.S. private
employers added 200,000 jobs this month, beating economists'
expectations and reinforcing the possibility that the Federal
Reserve could raise interest rates before the end of the year.
Canadian government bond prices fell across the maturity
curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR down 2.5 Canadian cents to
yield 0.521 percent and the benchmark 10-year CA10YT=RR
falling 7 Canadian cents to yield 1.441 percent.
The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread narrowed to -11.6 basis
points, while the 10-year spread narrowed to -60.3 basis points.