By Frank Pingue
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was mostly flat against the U.S. dollar on Monday and stuck in a range as there was little economic data to consider and oil prices eased from the record high hit last week.
Domestic bond prices were largely unchanged.
At 7:50 a.m. EDT, the Canadian unit was at C$1.0048 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.52 U.S. cents, up from C$1.0056 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.44 U.S. cents, at Friday's close.
During the overnight session, the Canadian currency held in a tight range of C$1.0108 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.93 U.S. cents, and C$1.0043 to the U.S. dollar, and 99.57 U.S. cents.
Trading during the overnight session was rather muted as many European markets were closed for holidays.
"We're quite rangebound really," said Adam Cole, global head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in London. "And we've been quite devoid of news flow in what is a going to be a busy week as things get moving from tomorrow onward."
The only Canadian data due this week are the new housing price index for March at 8:30 a.m. and Thursday's survey of manufacturing for March.
But none of the data due this week is likely to alter the market's expectations for domestic interest rates. The Bank of Canada is still expected to lower its key rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent at its next scheduled announcement date on June 10.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will give a speech on "Canada and the Global Economy" to the Economic Club of Toronto around 8:20 a.m.
While the speech is not expected to draw much market attention, comments to the media afterward will be perused closely.
Last week the commodity-linked Canadian dollar was offered support from oil prices which rose to a record above $126 a barrel. The prices of oil has backed off its peak but has stuck near the lofty level and is keeping the Canadian dollar from drifting.
BONDS FLAT
Bond prices were mostly unchanged alongside the flat U.S. Treasury market, which often sets direction for Canadian bond prices when there is a lack of domestic news.
The two-year bond was up 1 Canadian cent at C$102.03 to yield 2.726 percent. The 10-year was unchanged at C$103.18 to yield 3.585 percent.
The yield spread between the two- and 10-year bonds was 84.6 basis points, down from 85.6 at the previous close.
The 30-year bond was off 5 Canadian cents at C$115.50, for a yield of 4.083 percent. In the United States, the 30-year treasury yielded 4.527 percent.
The three-month when-issued T-bill yielded 2.65 percent, up from 2.62 percent at the previous close.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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