* Canadian dollar rises 0.1 percent against the greenback
* Price of U.S. oil rises 2.2 percent
* Canadian bond prices dip across a flatter yield curve
* Gap between 2- and 10-year yields narrows to 3.9 basis points
TORONTO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday as oil prices and stocks rose amid hopes of an easing in the China-U.S. trade war.
Stocks rose after a report China is moving to cut import tariffs on American-made cars was interpreted by the market as a sign China is ready to make concessions on trade, offsetting heightened uncertainty over Brexit. is a major exporter of commodities, including oil, and runs a current account deficit so its economy could benefit from an improved outlook for the global flow of trade or capital.
The price of oil recouped much of the previous day's hefty losses as a modest show of strength in global stocks, a slightly weaker U.S. dollar and an unplanned supply outage in OPEC member Libya lent support. crude CLc1 prices were up 2.2 percent at $52.10 a barrel.
At 9:25 a.m. (1425 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading 0.1 percent higher at 1.3389 to the greenback, or 74.69 U.S. cents. The currency traded in a range of 1.3379 to 1.3421.
Last Thursday, the currency touched its weakest level in nearly 18 months at 1.3445 after the Bank of Canada suggested the pace of future interest rate hikes could be more gradual. have added to their bearish bets on the Canadian dollar for the fourth straight week, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Reuters calculations showed on Monday. As of Dec. 4, net short positions had increased to 12,936 contracts from 8,630 a week earlier. government bond prices were lower across the yield curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR down 3.5 Canadian cents to yield 2.032 percent and the 10-year CA10YT=RR falling 10 Canadian cents to yield 2.071 percent.
The gap between Canada's 2- and 10-year yields narrowed by 0.8 basis points to a spread of 3.9 basis points, its narrowest since September 2007.