* Canadian dollar at C$1.3164, or 75.96 U.S. cents
* Bond prices slightly higher across the maturity curve
TORONTO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The commodity-linked Canadian dollar was unchanged against its broadly firmer U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices rallied and risk appetite improved.
The Canadian dollar's steady performance against the greenback follows steep losses on Friday as a slump in domestic jobs and a record-wide Canadian trade deficit contrasted with a robust U.S. jobs report. rose after a report of renewed calls by some OPEC members to restrain output. U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 1.84 percent at $42.57 a barrel. O/R
Adding to support for Canada's risk-sensitive currency, stock markets rose amid increased expectations of faster growth in the U.S. after Friday's jobs data.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar .DXY rose against a basket of major currencies.
At 9:26 a.m. EDT (1326 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading at C$1.3164 to the greenback, or 75.96 U.S. cents, unchanged from Friday's close.
The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.3141, while its weakest was C$1.3197.
On Friday, the Canadian dollar touched a nine-day low at C$1.3200.
The implied probability of a Bank of Canada rate cut has increased to 19 percent, overnight index swaps data showed. It was 12 percent before Friday's weak domestic jobs and trade data. BOCWATCH
The value of Canadian building permits declined 5.5 percent in June from May, data from Statistics Canada showed on Monday. Construction intentions in multi-family dwellings and institutional buildings led the drop. reduced bullish bets on the loonie for the first time in six weeks, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. Net long Canadian dollar positions fell to 17,758 contracts in the week ended August 2 from 23,180 contracts in the prior week. government bond prices were slightly higher across the maturity curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR price up 0.5 Canadian cent to yield 0.518 percent and the benchmark 10-year CA10YT=RR rising 12 Canadian cents to yield 1.059 percent.
The yield on Canada's 10-year bond fell 3 basis points further below the yield on its U.S. equivalent, leaving the spread at -54.1 basis points, its largest gap since June 2, as Canadian government bonds outperformed.