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* Canadian dollar rises 0.6% against the greenback
* Price of U.S. oil falls 0.5%
* Canada-U.S. 2-year spread hits its narrowest since April 2018
* Canada's 10-year yield hits a two-year low at 1.423%
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, June 3 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened to a nearly one-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as rising expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this year weighed on the greenback.
The U.S. dollar .DXY tumbled against a basket of major currencies after St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said an interest rate cut "may be warranted soon," given the rising economic risk posed by global trade tensions as well as weak U.S. inflation. a broader move on the U.S. dollar following these comments," said Simon Côté, managing director, risk management solutions at National Bank Financial. "The market is getting what it was waiting for, a reason to take some profit, sell some (U.S.) dollars."
The gap between Canada's 2-year yield and its U.S. equivalent narrowed by 4.2 basis points to a spread of 47.2 basis points in favor of the U.S. bond, its narrowest gap since April 2018.
The narrower spread comes after the Bank of Canada said last week there was increasing evidence that a slowdown in the domestic economy was temporary, as it left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75%. think the Bank of Canada will be in more of a wait and see mood instead of aggressively cutting rates to follow the Fed," Côté said. downturn in Canada's manufacturing sector deepened in May as the depressed state of global trade led to a further decline in production. 4:07 p.m. (2007 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading 0.6% higher at 1.3441 to the greenback, or 74.40 U.S. cents. The currency, which fell in May for the fourth straight month, touched its strongest level since last Tuesday at 1.3435.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, fell as U.S. trade disputes with Mexico and China deepened concerns about weakening global crude demand. U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled 0.5% lower at $53.25 a barrel. and Canada said on Friday they would proceed with plans to ratify a new continental trade pact despite a threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Mexico unless a surge of illegal immigrants ceased. government bond prices were higher across the yield curve on Monday in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year CA2YT=RR rose 11.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.368% and the 10-year CA10YT=RR gained 61 Canadian cents to yield 1.425%.
The 10-year yield hit its lowest since June 2017 at 1.423%.