* Canadian dollar at C$1.2984, or 77.02 U.S. cents
* Bond prices higher across the maturity curve
TORONTO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened
against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, helped by a pause in
the falling crude oil price and as more bets were placed that
worries about a Chinese economic slowdown will prevent a rise in
U.S. interest rates this year.
Consumer inflation in China eased more than expected in
September, while U.S. retail sales and producer price data also
disappointed, pushing the U.S. currency lower.
Crude oil edged up as the United States forecast its shale
production would fall sharply in November.
* At 8:55 a.m. ET (1255 GMT), the Canadian dollar
was trading at C$1.2984 to the greenback, or 77.02 U.S. cents,
stronger than the Bank of Canada's official close of C$1.3019,
or 76.81 U.S. cents.
* The currency's strongest level of the session was
C$1.2963, while its weakest level was C$1.3040.
* Canadian government bond prices were higher across the
maturity curve, with the two-year up 8 Canadian cents
to yield 0.521 percent and the benchmark 10-year
jumping 96 Canadian cents to yield 1.415 percent.
* The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was -6 basis points,
while the 10-year spread was -59.4 basis points.
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)