(Adds strategist comment, details; updates with closing
figures)
* Canadian dollar ends at C$1.2973, or 77.08 U.S. cents
* Bond prices mixed across the maturity curve
By Solarina Ho
TORONTO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar rallied
about 1 percent on Wednesday against a sharply lower U.S.
dollar, which tumbled to its lowest level in a month against key
currencies after China's currency moves sowed doubt over the
Federal Reserve's rate hike timing.
The U.S. central bank has made clear it plans to raise
interest rates sometime this year and markets have been making
bets that it could happen by September.
"Anything that rattles Fed rate hike timing is obviously
going to impact the U.S. dollar quite sharply. So this continues
to be a U.S. dollar story," said Rahim Madhavji, president at
Knightsbridge.com, a commercial foreign exchange dealing firm.
But Madhavji believes the Fed will make a move despite
market concerns, adding: "I don't think there's anything
conclusive. I think it's all rhetoric for the most part."
The currency, which is also sensitive to commodity price
moves due to oil's status as a key Canadian export, also found
some support in steady crude prices.
After being hit hard on Tuesday over demand worries
following China's devaluation of its currency, oil rose modestly
on the softer greenback as well as lower crude stockpiles but
remained close to multi-year lows.
The Canadian dollar, which saw its biggest one-day
gain since mid-April, ended at C$1.2973 to the greenback, or
77.08 U.S. cents, significantly stronger than the Bank of
Canada's official close of C$1.3104, or 76.31 U.S. cents.
The currency traded between C$1.2952 and C$1.3158 on
Wednesday, the third session in a row in which the loonie
experienced a swing of more than 1 percent. With China
dominating the FX market this week, however, the Canadian
currency - widely expected to weaken further - was mostly
rangebound between C$1.2950 and C$1.32.
Meanwhile, Canadian government bond prices were mixed across
the maturity curve, with prices for the two-year bond
down half a Canadian cent to yield 0.424 percent and the
benchmark 10-year rising 10 Canadian cents to yield
1.395 percent.
The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread narrowed to -24.1 basis
points, while the 10-year bond spread widened to -75.3 basis
points.
(Reporting by Solarina Ho, editing by G Crosse)