TORONTO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar steadied near a six-week high against its US counterpart on Monday as oil prices tumbled and investors weighed positive signals on prospects of a trade deal between the US and Canada.
The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3975 per US dollar, or 71.56 US cents, after touching on Friday its strongest intraday level since September 16 at 1.3940.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration has the "concept" of a new trade deal with Canada while Prime Minister Mark Carney said the two leaders had a good conversation on the future of trade between their countries.
The imposition of tariffs on Canada has emerged as an issue in some northern US border states like Michigan and Maine before US midterm elections on Tuesday.
"Headlines have been constructive, following positive comments from both US and Canadian officials on the topic of trade," Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret, FX strategists at Scotiabank, said in a note.
"Fundamentally, the CAD remains well supported by narrowing US-Canada yield spreads which have delivered the bulk of its recent gains," the strategists said.
The gap between Canada's 2-year yield and the US equivalent was trading at about 129 basis points in favor of the US note. Last month, the gap was as wide as 161 basis points.
The Bank of Canada last week raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.50%, its first hike in three years, out of concern that soaring energy prices could drive broader inflation.
US crude oil futures fell 7.8% to $96.01 a barrel as talks between Iranian and Qatari officials lifted hopes for an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran and stabilization of Middle East crude supply. Oil is one of Canada's major exports.
Canadian bond yields fell across the curve, tracking moves in US Treasuries. The 10-year was down 5.5 basis points at 3.744%, after earlier touching its lowest level since September 3 at 3.740%.
Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Paul Simao
