CANADA FX DEBT - Canadian dollar strengthens, benchmark yield slips

The Canadian dollar strengthened against the greenback on Wednesday, and the yield on benchmark government debt slipped.

The loonie CAD= was trading 0.3% higher at C$1.4307 to the greenback, or 69.9 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.4303 to 1.4366.

Canadian government 10-year bond yields CA10YT=RR fell 8.9 basis points to 3.454%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt fell to 4.6755%.

U.S. February crude CLc1 futures rose 78 cents to $78.28 a barrel on Wednesday.

Canadian factory sales fell 0.8% in November from the previous month, Statistics Canada said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected factory sales growth of 0.5%.