TORONTO: The Canadian dollar was little changed against its US counterpart on Wednesday as broader declines for the greenback offset falling oil prices, while domestic data showed building permits rebounding in June.

The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2534 to the US dollar, or 79.78 US cents, breaking a string of declines since Friday. The currency traded in a range of 1.2515 to 1.2551.

The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, was down 2.3% at $68.92 a barrel as the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant in top consuming countries outweighed Mideast geopolitical tensions and a fall in US inventories. But the US dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies as investors awaited US employment data for July on Friday that could provide clues to the pace of monetary tightening in the world’s biggest economy.

Canada’s July employment report is also due on Friday.

On Wednesday, data from Statistics Canada showed that the value of Canadian building permits rose by 6.9% in June from May. In May, permits fell 12.9%.