C$ steadies ahead of Macklem speech, capped by oil pull back

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, having pulled back from a 6-year high the day before, as oil prices fell and investors awaited a speech by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem.

The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was down 2.3% at $64.56 a barrel as India's coronavirus crisis deepened and a key U.S. pipeline resumed operations, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high.

Higher prices for oil and other commodities have raised the outlook for inflation. Producer prices rose by 14.2% year-over-year in April, the biggest increase since February 1980, led by lumber and other wood products, a flash estimate from Statistics Canada showed.

The Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2125 to the greenback, or 82.47 U.S. cents, having traded in a range of 1.2104 to 1.2156.

On Wednesday, it touched its strongest intraday level since May 2015 at 1.2042, bolstered by surging commodity prices and the Bank of Canada's shift in guidance last month to show it could start raising its benchmark interest rate from a record low of 0.25% in late 2022.

The central bank also tapered its bond purchases, becoming the first major central bank to cut back on pandemic-era money-printing stimulus programs.

BoC Governor Tiff Macklem is due to speak at 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) on "the benefits of an inclusive economy."

Canada's 10-year yield touched its highest level since March 18 at 1.624% before pulling back to 1.587%, down 1.4 basis points on the day.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum)