CANADA FX DEBT-Canadian dollar steadies after mixed retail sales data

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar steadied against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as the price of oil clawed back some recent declines and domestic data pointed to sluggish household spending.

Canadian retail sales declined by 0.2% month-over-month in October, after declining 0.9% in September, on lower sales at food and beverage retailers. Economists had expected a flat reading.

A preliminary estimate for November was more upbeat, showing sales rebounding by 1.2%.

"Overall, today’s figures suggest that household spending has remained relatively stagnant thus far in the fourth quarter, despite some monthly volatility," Tiago Figueiredo, a macro strategist at Desjardins, said in a note.

"While the Bank of Canada is keeping a close eye on the weak trend in consumption, these numbers aren’t soft enough to have central bankers move off the sidelines."

Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada signaled a potential end to its easing campaign as it cut the benchmark interest rate to a three-year low of 2.25%.

The loonie CAD= was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3775 per U.S. dollar, or 72.60 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.3756 to 1.3801.

For the week, the currency was also little changed after domestic data showed inflation running at a cooler than expected pace. It follows three straight weekly gains.

The U.S. dollar .DXY rose against a basket of major currencies as the yen JPY= weakened sharply. The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 30-year high but did not offer clarity on future hikes.

The price of oil CLc1, one of Canada's major exports, was up 1.2% at $56.80 a barrel as the market waited for news about a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Canadian bond yields rose across a steeper curve, tracking moves in other sovereign debt markets after the BoJ's policy move. The 10-year CA10YT=RR was up 3.7 basis points at 3.481%.