By Claire Sibonney TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar hit a 22-month high against the greenback on Wednesday, retesting parity for the first time this week as upbeat U.S. earnings (INTC.O) boosted investors' appetite for riskier assets. Powered by rallying equity and commodity markets, the Canadian dollar climbed as high as C$0.9961, or $1.004 U.S. dollars, its highest level since June 2008. "The party goes on but it will be interesting to see if we can actually sustain a full trading day below parity," said C.J. Gavsie, managing director of foreign exchange sales at BMO Capital Markets, adding that volumes were still quite light. "We are looking at some investor appetite for global diversification today away from the U.S. dollar...we look to oil, we look to gold." Supporting the commodity-linked Canadian currency, oil rose to near $85 a barrel, ending a five-day losing streak, as rising stock markets and a weaker dollar outweighed an industry report showing gains in U.S. inventories. Gold prices also edged higher as the dip for the dollar added to positive sentiment in the market and technical indicators pointed to the prospect of further price gains. In company news, expectation-beating results from No.2 U.S. bank JPMorgan (JPM.N) and technology bellwether Intel (INTC.O), pushed global equities higher. At 7:56 a.m., the Canadian dollar was at C$0.9965 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.004. On Tuesday, the Canadian dollar finished at C$1.0019 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.81 U.S. cents. Market participants said a break through barriers at C$0.9975 had triggered the rise for the Canadian currency. Others in the market said that expectations for a stronger-than-expected reading of Chinese first-quarter GDP also helped commodity currencies. "The next short-term levels are C$0.9930 and C$0.9900," said a trader at a European bank in London.

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