* C$ at C$1.0260 vs US$, or 97.47 U.S. cents
* U.S. jobless claims help ease concerns over job market
* Traders eye interview with Bank of Canada's Carney
* Friday's Canadian inflation data in focus
* Bond prices mixed
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, April 18 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was
modestly stronger against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday,
tracking global equity and commodity markets that recouped some
of this week's heavy losses.
Global markets took a pause amid a lack of major economic
news and data after selling off sharply this week on concerns
about the global economic outlook.
"We're seeing better equity markets, we're also seeing some
decent gains in the commodities," said Charles St-Arnaud,
economist and currency strategist at Nomura Securities in New
York.
"It's slightly improved risk-sentiment. It follows almost
three or four days or very negative sentiment."
Crude oil prices in particular rebounded, with dealers
saying it looked oversold.
U.S. data showed the number of Americans filing new claims
for unemployment benefits rose only slightly last week, holding
near a level economists normally associate with average monthly
job gains of more than 150,000. This helped ease concerns of a
deterioration in labor market conditions.
At 9:10 a.m. EDT (1310 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading
at C$1.0260 versus the U.S. dollar, or 97.47 U.S. cents. This
was stronger than Wednesday's North American finish at C$1.0266,
or 97.41 U.S. cents.
Canada's performance was mixed against other major
currencies. It was also stronger than the Japanese yen
, but weaker than the euro and the sterling
.
St-Arnaud said the Canadian currency could trade between
C$1.02 and C$1.03 for the remainder of the week after recent
volatility.
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on
Wednesday after the Bank of Canada chopped its growth forecasts,
although losses were limited by the bank holding to its view
that interest rates would need to rise at some point.
Traders will watch for further hints on monetary policy from
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney when he participates in a
Thomson Reuters Newsmaker event in Washington on Thursday. ()
Canadian inflation data on Friday, which is expected to be
very tame, is the only major economic data remaining this week.
Canadian government bond prices were mixed, with the
two-year bond shedding 0.8 of a Canadian cent to
yield 0.936 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond
climbed 8 Canadian cents to yield 1.706 percent.