* C$ rises as high as 97.80 U.S. cents
* U.S. data helps pull bond prices lower (Adds details, quote)
By Jennifer Kwan
TORONTO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar rose against the U.S. dollar on Friday morning after some bullish U.S. data eased fears of a sputtering economy and encouraged a move away from the safe-haven greenback.
New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods excluding transportation rose in August and business spending rebounded strongly, pointing to an improvement in the economy. [ID:nN24184114]
The Canadian dollar CAD=D3 shot as high as C$1.0225 to the U.S. dollar, or 97.80 U.S. cents, after the U.S. data was released at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT). At 9:34 a.m., it was at C$1.0240 to the U.S. dollar, or 97.66 U.S. cents, up from C$1.0340 to the U.S. dollar, or 96.71 U.S. cents, at Thursday's close.
Nathan Janzen, an economist at Royal Bank of Canada, said the durable goods report "should be a positive report for the U.S. economy".
"It was a larger headline decline in the orders but core orders bounced back fairly sharply from the big drop in July," he said.
The market focused on orders excluding transportation, which rose 2.0 percent after falling by 2.8 percent in July.
Before the data, the Canadian dollar had already been on the rise, bolstered by a rise in global equity markets.
Prices for oil and other commodities were also higher and supported the Canadian dollar, while U.S. gold futures rallied to record highs above $1,300 an ounce. [O/R] [GOL/]
Rising confidence in the global economy put some pressure on Canadian government bonds, cutting into recent gains.
The two-year government of Canada bond edged down 9 Canadian cents to yield 1.461 percent, while the 10-year bond dropped 42 Canadian cents to yield 2.885 percent.
