* Canadian dollar at C$1.2496, or 80.03 U.S. cents
* Loonie touches its strongest since Thursday
* U.S. crude CLc1 prices climb 1.73 percent
* Bond prices lower across the yield curve
TORONTO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday as oil rose and the greenback lost ground against a basket of major currencies.
At 9:16 a.m. ET (1316 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading at C$1.2496 to the greenback, or 80.03 U.S. cents, up 0.4 percent.
The currency's weakest level of the session was C$1.2555, while it touched its strongest since Thursday at C$1.2495.
Canada's bond and stock markets were closed on Monday due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Prices of oil, one of Canada's major exports, were supported by Saudi Arabian export cuts for November and comments from OPEC and trading companies that the market is rebalancing after years of oversupply. U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 1.73 percent at $50.44 a barrel. U.S. dollar .DXY broadly fell after stronger-than-expected German trade data boosted the euro. of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins will participate in a panel discussion at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT) for the International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings Seminar series. The topic is "Systemic Risk and Macroprudential Stress Testing."
Domestic data on Friday showed a pickup in wages and reduced worries that the economy will slow in the second half of the year. have raised bullish bets on the loonie to the highest since November 2012, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Reuters calculations showed on Friday. Tuesday, data showed that the value of Canadian building permits fell 5.5 percent in August, surpassing forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent. separate data, seasonally adjusted housing starts rose to 217,118 in September, compared with a revised 225,918 units in August.
Canadian government bond prices edged lower across the yield curve, with the two-year CA2YT=RR down 1.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.559 percent and the 10-year CA10YT=RR falling 2 Canadian cents to yield 2.13 percent.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet President Donald Trump on Wednesday. He will try to persuade the U.S. leader to focus on Mexico as a source of potential problems at talks to update the North American Free Trade Agreement.