* Canadian dollar at C$1.3168, or 75.94 U.S. cents
* Loonie on course to rise 0.9 percent for the week
* Bond prices lower across steeper maturity curve
TORONTO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as stronger-than-expected Chinese inflation data helped restore risk appetite and oil rose.
A pickup in China's consumer prices helped ease investors' concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy after disappointing trade numbers on Thursday rattled global markets. U.S. dollar .DXY held its earlier gains versus a basket of currencies on Friday as data on U.S. retail sales and producer prices in September supported the view of a modest U.S. economic expansion.
U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 0.38 percent at $50.63 a barrel, supported by a drop in U.S. fuel inventories, though gains were kept in check by ample crude supplies even as OPEC plans to cut output. O/R
The loonie's normally tight link with the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, has weakened ahead of the U.S. presidential election and a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. 9:24 a.m. EDT (1324 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading at C$1.3168 to the greenback, or 75.94 U.S. cents, stronger than Thursday's close of C$1.3205, or 75.73 U.S. cents.
The currency's weakest level of the session was C$1.3225, while it touched its strongest since Monday at C$1.3153.
For the week, the loonie was on course to rise 0.9 percent. Much of the gain came on Thursday as investors who got short the currency following China's weak trade data were forced to cover their positions as oil and U.S. stocks rebounded from session lows.
Sales of existing Canadian homes rose 0.8 percent in September from August, a report from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed. government bond prices were lower across a steeper yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year CA2YT=RR fell 3.5 Canadian cents to yield 0.616 percent and the benchmark 10-year CA10YT=RR declined 30 Canadian cents to yield 1.213 percent.
The Belgian fortress city of Namur, besieged by European armies down the centuries, issued a declaration of war on the global economic order on Friday with a vote to reject a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement.