* Loonie trades in a range of 1.2472 to 1.2518.
* Price of U.S. oil rises 0.7%
* Canadian new housing prices rise 1.1% in March
* Canadian 30-year yield rises 3.5 basis points to 2.061%
TORONTO, April 22 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was little
changed against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, holding on to
its gains from the prior day as investors weighed the potential
for the Bank of Canada to reduce stimulus further over coming
months.
The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2502 to
the greenback, or 79.99 U.S. cents, having traded in a range of
1.2472 to 1.2518.
On Wednesday, it touched its strongest intraday level in one
month at 1.2455 after the Bank of Canada signaled that it could
start hiking interest rates in late 2022. The central bank
sharply boosted its outlook for the Canadian economy and cut the
pace of bond purchases to C$3 billion per week from C$4 billion.
"The Bank of Canada met almost all of our expectations for a
hawkish taper," Derek Holt, vice president of capital markets
economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "I would advise
penciling in a further taper (of bond buying) at the July MPR
meeting."
Also on Wednesday, the BoC said that it feared high housing
prices could result in stretched borrowing and lending, leaving
some households and financial institutions vulnerable to an
economic downtown.
Canadian new housing prices rose 1.1% in March from
February, climbing 7.9% year-over-year, data from Statistics
Canada showed on Thursday.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rebounded
after it was pressured over the last two days by concerns about
demand recovery after a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in India
and Japan. U.S. crude prices were up 0.7% at $61.79 a
barrel.
Canadian government bond yields were higher across a steeper
curve, with the 30-year up 3.5 basis points at
2.061%. On Monday, the federal budget proposed raising the share
of long-term debt issuance, including quarterly auctions of
ultra-long bonds.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith, Editing by William Maclean)
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