CANADA FX DEBT-C$ steady ahead of Bank of Canada rate decision

TORONTO, March 6 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was
unchanged on Wednesday against the U.S. dollar as investors
awaited the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision and policy
statement later in the morning.
    The Bank of Canada is widely expected to hold rates
unchanged at 1 percent and focus will be on whether the central
bank's changes its tone in its policy language, following a
string of weak domestic economic data. Its decision is expected
at 10 a.m.  
    The bank eased away from its relatively more hawkish stance
in January, saying the withdrawal of monetary policy stimulus
was "less imminent than previously anticipated".
    The Canadian dollar is expected to soften against the
greenback if the central bank tones down its language further.
    "The Bank of Canada's latest rate statement is likely to
retain the vague rate guidance in the final paragraph while
nonetheless going more dovish on the language," said Derek Holt,
economist at Scotiabank in a note to clients.
    At 9:17 a.m. (1403 GMT), the Canadian dollar was
trading at C$1.0280 versus the U.S. dollar, or 97.28 U.S. cents,
unchanged from its North American finish on Tuesday.
    It was outperforming most of its currency counterparts,
except for its commodity-linked sister currencies, the New
Zealand and Australian dollars.
    Canadian government bond prices were lower across the curve.
The two-year bond was off 1.5 Canadian cents and
yielding 0.955 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond
 was down 30 Canadian cents to yield 1.850 percent.