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Canadian dollar weakens 0.2% against the greenback
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Trades in a range of 1.3361 to 1.3425
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Price of U.S. oil rises 0.8%
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10-year yield eases 1.8 basis points to 3.072%
TORONTO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday but was holding on to half of its previous day's gain as investors awaited the release of minutes for the first time from a Bank of Canada policy meeting. The BoC is due to release at 1:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT) the "Summary of Deliberations" from its January policy decision when it raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% and said it would likely hold off on further increases for now.
On Tuesday, its governor, Tiff Macklem, said no further interest rate rises would be needed if, as expected, the economy stalled and inflation came down. The Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3420 to the greenback, or 74.52 U.S. cents after moving in a range of 1.3361 to 1.3425. It advanced 0.4% on Tuesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's balanced tone on inflation cheered equity markets and weighed on the U.S. dollar . A Reuters poll showed that strategists expect the Canadian dollar to rise later this year as the global economic outlook turns more favorable for commodity-linked currencies and investors bet central banks will cut interest rates in 2024.
The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, rose for a third day as investor concern eased about U.S. interest rate hikes and an industry report pointed to a drop in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. crude prices were up 0.8% at $77.76 a barrel. Canadian bond yields were lower across much of the curve. The 10-year eased 1.8 basis points to 3.072% after touching on Tuesday its highest intraday level in nearly four weeks at 3.109%. Canada is due to auction C$3.5 billion ($2.61 billion) of 2-year bonds, with the bidding deadline set for 12 p.m. ET (1700 GMT). (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
