The Canadian dollar was higher against the greenback Thursday amid generally small moves in commodity prices.
The loonie was up 0.29 of a cent to 101.82 cents (US), its highest level in almost three years.
Traders are looking to the latest reading of inflation at the end of the week for an indication of when the Bank of Canada will resume pushing interest rates higher.
Statistics Canada is expected to report Friday that the consumer price index rose by 0.2% in January, driven largely by rising food and energy prices.
Economists say the small gain would push the annualized rate down to 2.%, from 2.4% the previous month.
The central bank makes its next announcement on interest rates on March 1.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Labour Department reported Thursday that a big jump in food and gas costs pushed consumer prices up in January, but outside those volatile categories inflation was relatively tame.
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% last month, matching December’s increase. In the past year, the index has risen 1.6%.
Excluding food and energy, the core index rose 0.2%.
