CANADA FX DEBT-C$ lower on Dubai worries, weaker commodities

TORONTO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was weaker
versus its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as debt worries in
Dubai and softer commodity prices sent investors in search of
less riskier assets as trade thinned during U.S. Thanksgiving.

Dubai said on Wednesday two of its flagship firms planned
to delay repayment on billions of dollars of debt as a first
step toward restructuring Dubai World, the conglomerate that
spearheaded the emirate's breakneck growth. [nGEE5AO2L1]

"There is a lot of concern about this Dubai story and
that's really hitting currencies," said Sacha Tihanyi, a
currency strategist at Scotia Capital. "It's boosting the U.S.
dollar and Japanese yen on risk aversion and basically hurting
a lot of the rest of the majors, particularly the commodity
currencies."

Gold's retreat from its record high of $1,194.90 and a 1.1
percent drop in U.S. crude oil prices also weighed on the
Canadian currency. [GOL/][O/R]

At 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), the Canadian unit was at C$1.055
to the U.S. dollar, or 94.79 U.S. cents. It closed at C$1.0455
to the U.S. dollar, or 95.65 U.S. cents on Wednesday.

The rise in risk aversion helped boost Canadian bonds. The
two-year bond CA2YT=RR rose 4 Canadian cents at C$100.23 to
yield 1.133 percent, while the 10-year bond CA10YT=RR was up
22 Canadian cents at C$104.23 to yield 3.231 percent.
(Reporting by Scott Anderson, editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)
((scott.anderson@reuters.com; +1 416 941 8106; Reuters
Messaging: scott.anderson.reuters.com@reuters.net))