* Canadian dollar at C$1.1319 or 88.35 U.S. cents
* Bond prices rise across the maturity curve
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar rose
moderately against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as stronger than
expected September wholesale sales numbers in Canada added to
expectations that gross domestic product figures for that month
will be robust.
Wholesale sales jumped 1.8 percent in September to a record
C$54.03 billion, the latest economic data signaling stronger
Canadian economic growth. Economists had forecast a rise of 0.8
percent.
"Wholesale was solid. It looks like September GDP is going
to be plus 0.3, or maybe it could be even better, depending what
retail shows next week," said Benjamin Reitzes, senior economist
at BMO Capital Markets.
"It does look as though we'll bounce back after a very weak
July and August. If we get a good October, that will bode pretty
well for the fourth quarter."
At 9:26 a.m. (1426 GMT), the Canadian dollar, which
was outperforming most other major currencies against the
greenback, was trading at C$1.1319 to the U.S. dollar, or 88.35
U.S. cents, stronger than Wednesday's close of C$1.1351, or
88.10 U.S. cents.
The loonie briefly lost some of its gains after the release
of U.S. inflation and jobless claims data. The figures showed
the number of Americans claiming benefits fell less than
expected last week, but was still the lowest since December
2000, pointing to a stronger labor market. And while consumer
prices were unexpectedly flat last month, core inflation, which
strips out food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent.
On Friday, market attention will shift to Canadian consumer
price index figures for October, with economists polled by
Reuters expecting inflation to rise to 2.1 percent from 2
percent, and core inflation holding steady at 2.1 percent.
Reitzes said he doesn't expect the Canadian dollar to make
any big moves outside of its recent trading range, however.
"Unless the data shows the momentum in Canada is changing
materially or the U.S. is picking up massively, it doesn't look
like we're going to break out of this 2 to 3 cents range here,"
he said.
Canadian government bond prices were higher across the
maturity curve, with the two-year rising 6.2 Canadian
cents to yield 1.045 percent and the benchmark 10-year
up 40.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.992 percent.
(Editing by Peter Galloway)