* C$ down at $1.0154 vs US$, or 98.48 U.S. cents
* Bond prices creep up across curve
TORONTO, July 6 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar drifted
lower against the greenback on Friday, tracking a drop in global
equities and commodity prices ahead of critical North American
jobs data.
U.S. employers are expected to have added 90,000 new workers
to their payrolls in June, according to a Reuters survey of
economists. That rise would be modest but still better than the
69,000 jobs created in May, which was the fewest in a year.
In Canada, the economy likely created a paltry 5,000 new
jobs in June, for a second straight month of sluggish hiring as
employers worried about fallout from the European debt crisis
and the stalled U.S. economy.
Both reports are due at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT).
At 7:51 a.m., the Canadian currency was at C$1.0154 versus
the U.S. dollar, or 98.48 U.S. cents, slightly weaker than
Thursday's North American session close of C$1.0144
against its U.S. counterpart, or 98.58 U.S. cents.
Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC in London,
said unless market participants see a materially stronger-than
expected Canadian labor market, the Canadian dollar should see
solid resistance near the 200-day moving average of C$1.0116 and
its high of C$1.0100 hit on Thursday.
South of the border, better-than-expected jobs data on could
be a positive for risk assets, or negative if markets interpret
it as suggesting the U.S. Federal Reserve will be less likely to
take further steps to stimulate the economy.
Meanwhile, investors remained unimpressed after a trio of
major central banks loosened monetary policy on in the previous
session. Spanish 10-year government bond yields extended their
rise past 7 percent on Friday, a level which is not a
sustainable borrowing rate indefinitely.
Canadian bond prices edged up across the curve. Canada's
two-year government bond rose 4 Canadian cents to
yield 1.010 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond
added 11 Canadian cents to yield 1.709 percent.