The Canadian dollar strengthened against the greenback on Thursday, and the yield on benchmark government debt slipped. The loonie was trading 0.5% higher at C$1.3861 to the greenback, or 72.14 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3851 to 1.3948. Canadian government 10-year bond yields fell 7.6 basis points to 3.235%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt fell to 4.3433%. U.S. December crude futures rose 67 cents to settle at $72.36 a barrel on Thursday.