* Canadian dollar at C$1.2537 or 79.76 U.S. cents
* Bond prices mostly higher across the maturity curve
TORONTO, April 9 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar held steady
against the greenback on Thursday as a modestly stronger U.S.
dollar undercut the boost the loonie got from higher oil prices,
which rebounded nearly 2 percent after Wednesday's drop.
Jeremy Stretch, head of foreign exchange strategy at CIBC
World Markets in London, said investors were also likely to be
positioning themselves ahead of the Canadian employment report
for March on Friday.
"I wouldn't expect us to stretch too far as far as today is
concerned, largely because investors are perhaps mindful of the
more important data tomorrow," he said.
* At 9:21 a.m. EDT (1321 GMT), the Canadian dollar
was trading at C$1.2537 to the greenback, or 79.76 U.S. cents,
little changed from the Bank of Canada's official close of
C$1.2538, or 79.76 U.S. cents, on Wednesday.
* The currency's strongest level of the session was
C$1.2509. Its weakest level was C$1.2581.
* Second-tier Canadian data included the value of building
permits for February, which fell 0.9 percent, and new home
prices, which rose 0.2 percent in February.
* In the United States, the number of Americans filing new
claims for jobless benefits rose less than expected last week,
suggesting an abrupt slowdown in job growth in March could be
temporary.
* U.S. crude prices were up 1.88 percent at $51.37,
while Brent crude added 2.74 percent to $57.07.
* The Canadian dollar, which was underperforming other
commodities-linked currencies but outperforming many of its
European counterparts, will likely trade between C$1.2480 and
C$1.2610 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, according to
CIBC's Stretch.
* Canadian government bond prices were mostly higher across
the maturity curve, with the two-year price up 1.5
Canadian cents to yield 0.494 percent and the benchmark 10-year
rising 15 Canadian cents to yield 1.326 percent.
* The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was -4.6, while the
10-year spread was -58.1.
(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Peter Galloway)