Market News

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar gained ground against its broadly weaker U.S. counterpart on Monday, as investors grew more hopeful of a pre-election U.S. stimulus package and domestic data showed wholesale sales rising for the fourth straight month.

Canadian wholesale trade increased by 0.3% in August from July, remaining above pre-COVID-19 levels, Statistics Canada said.

World stocks <.WORLD> rose after remarks from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revived bets that an agreement in Washington on a fiscal package could be reached soon.

Canada sends about 75% of its exports to the United States, including oil.

U.S. crude <CLc1> prices were up 0.2% at $40.98 a barrel, while the U.S. dollar <.DXY> fell against a basket of major currencies. Data showed China's economic rebound from the pandemic accelerated in the third quarter, with the yuan surging to a fresh 1-1/2-year high against the greenback.

The loonie <CAD=> was trading 0.2% higher at 1.3163 to the greenback, or 75.97 U.S. cents. The currency traded in a range of 1.3164 to 1.3194.

Speculators have cut their bearish bets on the Canadian dollar to the lowest since July, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday. As of Oct. 13, net short positions had decreased to 13,564 contracts from 18,047 in the prior week.

The autumn issue of the Bank of Canada's Business Outlook Survey is due for release at 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT), which could be informative about the strength of economic recovery. The central bank is set to make an interest rate decision and update its economic forecasts next week.

Canadian government bond yields were mixed across the curve on Monday, with the 10-year <CA10YT=RR> nearly unchanged at 0.578%.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Andrea Ricci)