* Little changed, down at 98.86 U.S. cents
* Charge towards U.S. dollar parity stalls for now
* Canadian bond prices climb across curve
By Jennifer Kwan
TORONTO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Canada's dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday after approaching parity to touch a 5-month high the day before, with its trading range expected to remain tight ahead of key employment data due on Friday.
At 9:08 a.m. (1308 GMT), the Canadian dollar CAD=D4 was at C$1.0115 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.86 U.S. cents, a hair lower from Wednesday's finish at C$1.0107 to the U.S. dollar, or 98.94 U.S. cents.
Supporting the currency was the U.S. dollar's downtrend, which gathered pace on Thursday as it slid to a 15-year low versus the Japanese yen and an all-time low against the Swiss franc, while the Australian dollar surged to a 27-year high against the greenback. [FRX/]
The greenback has been battered in recent sessions on growing prospects of more money-printing by the U.S. Federal Reserve to revive the U.S. economy.
Oil jumped above $84 a barrel and gold rose to a record high above $1,364 an ounce as investors bet that huge liquidity being pumped by developed central banks would reflate the global economy. [MKTS/GLOB]
But the Canadian dollar was kept under pressure by broader concerns about the health of the U.S. economy, Canada's biggest trading partner, said Steve Butler, director of foreign exchange trading at Scotia Capital.
"It's a bit of a pullback after the move yesterday, but Canada's hanging in pretty well," said Butler.
"Canada still looks good, but I do think we'll continue to be an underperformer just because of the worries over what's going on with the U.S."
On Wednesday, the Canadian dollar rose as high as C$1.0063 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.37 U.S. cents, its highest level since April 30.
In Canada, a report on Thursday showed the value of Canadian building permits issued in August plunged 9.2 percent from July, well below market expectations, on weakness in the nonresidential sector. [ID:nN07]
Still, the data "for today (was) not nearly as relevant," said Butler.
"It's all about data tomorrow. We'll have to see what the employment data looks like in Canada and the U.S. That's going to be the main driver," he said.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls were likely unchanged in September [ID:nN05187700], while Canada is seen adding 10,000 jobs for that month. [ID:nN01221816]
BONDS MOSTLY HIGHER
Canadian bond prices mostly rose, in line with U.S. Treasuries, which gained on expectations of another round of quantitative easing by the U.S. central bank. [US/]
The two-year bond CA2YT=RR rose 4 Canadian cents to yield 1.333 percent, while the 10-year bond CA10YT=RR climbed 10 Canadian cents to yield 2.739 percent. (Reporting by Jennifer Kwan; editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)
