* Canadian dollar rises 0.2 percent against the greenback
* Price of U.S. oil gains 0.6 percent
* Canadian building permits fall by 5.5 percent in January
* Canada's 2-year yield hits a 15-month low at 1.652 percent
TORONTO, March 7 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as oil prices rose but the loonie held near a two-month low hit the day before when the Bank of Canada was more dovish on the outlook for higher interest rates.
Faced with a slowing global and domestic economy, the Bank of Canada held interest rates steady as expected on Wednesday and said there was "increased uncertainty" about the timing of future rate increases. markets, which have moved to price in about a 25 percent chance of an interest rate cut this year, now will look to a speech by Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Lynn Patterson for further guidance on the rate outlook. BOCWATCH
The central bank will release the text of Patterson's speech, which is on the topic of economic progress, at 12:30 p.m. (1730 GMT).
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose on the back of continuing OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against exporters Venezuela and Iran. U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 were up 0.6 percent at $56.53 a barrel. 9:20 a.m. (1420 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was trading 0.2 percent higher at 1.3420 to the greenback, or 74.52 U.S. cents. The currency, which on Wednesday touched its weakest intraday since Jan. 4 at 1.3457, traded in a range of 1.3415 to 1.3447.
The loonie gained ground on Thursday even as the greenback .DXY rose against a basket of major currencies. The U.S. dollar currency index was boosted by a weaker euro, after the European Central Bank pushed out the timing of its first post-crisis rate hike to next year and offered banks new rounds of multi-year cash. value of Canadian building permits fell by 5.5 percent in January from December, Statistics Canada said. Analysts had expected a decrease of 5.0 percent. employment report for February is due on Friday.
Canadian government bond prices were higher across the yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year CA2YT=RR rose 5 Canadian cents to yield 1.655 percent and the 10-year CA10YT=RR climbed 24 Canadian cents to yield 1.799 percent.
The two-year yield touched its lowest intraday since December 2017 at 1.652 percent.