TORONTO - The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker against the U.S. currency Thursday morning amid little movement in commodity prices. The loonie was down 0.18 of a cent to 101.15 cents US. Oil prices were stable after running ahead for the last two sessions after a leak resulted in a shutdown of the 12-hundred kilometre trans-Alaskan pipeline on Saturday. Traders were closely watching the restart of the pipeline, which was completed on Wednesday. Crude prices had run up to a two-year high on signs of improving demand as inventories in the U.S. fell more than expected last week. On Wednesday morning, the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped two cents to US$91.84 a barrel. Bullion moved lower with the February contract on the Nymex down $3.50 to US$1,382.30 an ounce while the March copper contract in New York was unchanged at $4.41 a pound. A successful Spanish bond auction provided some reassurance about Europe’s debt crisis. The news that Spain managed to easily raise 3 billion euros via an auction of five-year bonds further eased tensions following Portugal’s own successful bond auction on Wednesday. Italy — considered less vulnerable than Spain — also successfully raised the money it was looking for in the bond markets. Meanwhile, the Bank of England announced it would keep its base interest rate at a record low of 0.5 per cent and again ruled out any further investment in economic stimulus. And the European Central Bank left its main interest rate unchanged at one per cent on Thursday for the 20th consecutive month.

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