By Fergal Smith
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, keeping to a narrow trading range as investors took stock of the Bank of Canada's more dovish tone and influential domestic data loomed in the coming days.
Canada's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75% last week, but cut its global and domestic growth forecasts as it worried that Canada's economy would be "increasingly tested" by trade uncertainty.
The loonie notched a three-month high at 1.3043 before the rate decision but has since declined as much as 1.3%.
"The fact that (Bank of Canada Governor) Stephen Poloz is concerned about the worsening global situation, it has put the (USD-CAD) downtrend to a bit of a halt," said Erik Bregar, head of FX strategy at the Exchange Bank of Canada. "But I don't think it's completely over yet until the market gets back above 1.32."
Canada's trade report for September is due on Tuesday and the October jobs report is due on Friday, both of which can help guide expectations for the central bank's policy outlook.
At 4:32 p.m. (2132 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3148 to the greenback, or 76.06 U.S. cents. The currency, which fell 0.6% last week, traded in a narrow range of 1.3130 to 1.3160.
The steady profile for the loonie came as the U.S. dollar (DXY) rallied against a basket of major currencies and as optimism the United States and China would reach a trade deal helped push shares on Wall Street (SPX) to a record high.
Canada is a major exporter of commodities, so its economy could benefit from an improved outlook for global trade.
U.S. crude oil futures (CLc1) settled 0.6% higher at $56.54 a barrel, boosted by flagging OPEC discussions of a deeper output cut next month as well as growing expectations of a U.S.-China trade deal.
Canadian government bond prices were lower across a steeper yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year (CA2YT=RR) fell 8.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.597% and the 10-year (CA10YT=RR) was down 76 Canadian cents to yield 1.526%.