* C$ at C$0.9978 vs US$, or $1.0022
* No agreement yet over loans to Greece
* U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment later
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was little
changed against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, even as
international lenders failed to come to agreement over loans to
debt-ridden Greece.
Market sentiment was dampened with the euro sliding after
euro zone finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and
the European Central Bank ended 12 hours of talks without
agreement on the next tranche of loans to Athens.
Still, expectations of an agreement next week could help to
limit losses.
"There's a lot of the concern with what's going on with
Greece overnight ... It's creating a bit more uncertainty on
that front," said C h arles St-Arnaud, economist and currency
strategist with Nomura Securities in New York.
"I'm actually surprised how resilient the Canadian dollar
has been over the past few weeks."
At 8:12 a.m. (1312 GMT), the Canadian dollar was
trading at C$0.9978 versus the greenback, or $1.0022. This was
marginally weaker than Tuesday's North American session finish
of C$0.9973, or $1.0027.
"The Canadian dollar has been trading a lot with risk
appetite over the last few days and weeks. With all the
uncertainty it's still a bit hard to see a big rally," said
St-Arnaud, adding it would be difficult to see the Canadian
dollar move firmer than C$0.9950, or weaker than U.S.-dollar
parity today.
Canada's dollar was performing better than the euro
and Australian dollar, but weaker than the
pound and Swiss franc.
The final November reading of the Reuters/University of
Michigan survey of consumer sentiment for the U.S. is expected
at 9:55 a.m. (1455 GMT) and could drive some movement in the
currency.
"If we see again another improvement in confidence, that
could provide some boost, but markets are expecting a slight
decline in confidence," said St-Arnaud.
Prices for Canadian government debt were mixed, with the
two-year bond unchanged with a yield of 1.115 percent
and the benchmark 10-year bond slipping 6 Canadian
cents to yield 1.764 percent.