(Updates with fresh commentary, details, closing figures)
* Canadian dollar at C$1.3318, or 75.09 U.S. cents
* Bond prices higher across the maturity curve
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar eked out a
gain against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, reversing losses
after the currency earlier touched its weakest level against the
greenback in more than 11 years on concerns about global growth.
The loonie, which first broke through key technical levels
on Wednesday on cheap crude and disappointing domestic retail
sales data, has tumbled some 25 percent since last summer,
tracking the price of oil, a major Canadian export.
"A lot of the movement that we're seeing with the loonie has
to do with technical positioning," said Scott Smith, senior
market analyst at Cambridge Global Payments in Calgary.
"Obviously, with retail sales yesterday coming in a bit
softer than expected, that's really piled on in terms of the
dovish commentary and outlook for the Canadian dollar."
The Canadian dollar extended losses overnight and early
Thursday morning as Norway and Taiwan's central banks both cut
their benchmark interest rates on Thursday.
The Canadian dollar CAD=D4 ended at C$1.3318 to the
greenback, or 75.09 U.S. cents, stronger than the Bank of
Canada's official close of C$1.3347, or 74.92 U.S. cents on
Wednesday.
The currency had softened to C$1.3417, or 74.53 U.S. cents
earlier in the session, its weakest level since June 2004.
"We've had a bit of exhaustion ... we've seen a lot of
corporate sellers coming into the market and take advantage of
that," said Smith about the currency's reversal.
Investors will next be digesting a speech by Federal Reserve
Chair Janet Yellen, searching for any clues that may provide
some clarity on the timing of a liftoff in U.S. interest rates.
While a number of market participants are still betting on a
move sometime this year, worries about global growth could keep
the Fed more cautious.
Canadian government bond prices were higher across the
maturity curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR price up 2.7
Canadian cents to yield 0.510 percent and the benchmark 10-year
CA10YT=RR rising 19 Canadian cents to yield 1.471 percent.
The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was -17.4 basis points,
while the 10-year spread was -65.7 basis points.