* Rises to C$1.0090 to the US$, or 99.11 U.S. cents * Bonds largely flat across curve By Jennifer Kwan TORONTO, March 18 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar notched anear 20-month high on Thursday as it continued its march towardparity with the U.S. dollar, but a lackluster tone in risksentiment could keep trade sideways. At 7:51 a.m. (1151 GMT), the currency was at its highestlevel of the session -- and strongest level since July 2008 --at C$1.0090 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.11 U.S. cents. On Wednesday, it closed at C$1.0103 to the U.S. dollar, or98.98 U.S. cents, its thirteenth close higher in the last 14sessions. But the usual factors driving the currency upward weremixed on Thursday, including weaker oil prices and slackeningglobal equity markets, which fell on persistent concerns aboutGreece"s fiscal situation. U.S. stock index futures alsopointed to a lower open. [O/R] [MKTS/] [.N] In the absence of market-moving domestic data, investorswill be looking for direction from the United States, wheredata on consumer inflation and the labour market is due, saidMatthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC CapitalMarkets. "With sentiment basically flat, i.e., looking fordirection, that is probably where the focus will be today," hesaid. The Canadian dollar pierced a key technical level of C$1.01on Wednesday, Strauss said. "If we see a further improvement in sentiment as reflectedby the equity markets, one can expect a retest of yesterday"slows in dollar/Canada, but we"re entering the day with clearlysentiment taking a breather, waiting for direction." Further gains in the Canadian unit could also be hamperedby a firmer U.S. dollar, which could find more support onescalating tensions between the U.S. and China over Beijing"syuan policy, analysts say. [FRX/] [ID:nTOE62H04U] Canadian bond prices were largely flat across the curve onThursday. The two-year government bond CA2YT=RR was a hairhigher, up 1 Canadian cent at C$99.83 to yield 1.589 percent,while the 10-year bond CA10YT=RR rose 8 Canadian cents toC$102.20 to yield 3.468 percent. (Reporting by Jennifer Kwan; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
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