* Canadian dollar at C$1.3039, or 76.69 U.S. cents
* Bond prices slightly lower across the maturity curve
TORONTO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened
slightly against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, firming along
with other commodity-linked currencies as oil prices climbed and
despite a rate cut from New Zealand's central bank.
The Kiwi dollar rose to a one-year peak after a
smaller-than-expected quarter-point cut from the Reserve Bank of
New Zealand.
World shares hovered close to one-year highs, adding to
support for Canada's risk-sensitive currency, while oil prices
turned positive after losses for the previous two days.
U.S. crude prices were up 0.36 percent to $41.86 a
barrel.
At 9:22 a.m. EDT (1322 GMT), the Canadian dollar
was trading at C$1.3039 to the greenback, or 76.69 U.S. cents,
stronger than Wednesday's close of C$1.3064, or 76.55 U.S.
cents.
Still, the currency traded in a narrow range after touching
on Wednesday its strongest in three weeks at C$1.2990.
The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.3020,
while its weakest was C$1.3080.
New home prices in Canada rose 0.1 percent in June from the
previous month, following a 0.7 percent monthly increase in May,
Statistics Canada said. On a year-over-year basis the index
increased 2.5 percent.
Canadian government bond prices were slightly lower across
the maturity curve, with the two-year bond down 0.5
Canadian cent to yield 0.51 percent and the benchmark 10-year
falling 3 Canadian cents to yield 0.995 percent.
On Wednesday, the 10-year yield dropped below the 1 percent
threshold for the first time in nearly four weeks.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum)