TORONTO (Dow Jones)--The Canadian dollar pared gains against the greenback in overnight trading on Wednesday to begin today's North American session slightly higher after taking several U.S. and Canadian economic indicators largely in stride. The U.S. dollar was recently at C$1.0010, from C$1.0017 late Tuesday, according to data provider CQG. The greenback's level against the loonie was unmoved in early Wednesday's session after several U.S. labor reports that were in line with expectations. U.S. hiring for private-sector jobs in February rose by 216,000, consistent with expectations, while U.S. non-farm productivity and labor costs also matched market forecasts. The only domestic data release on Wednesday was Canada's monthly building permits for January, which fell by 12.3%, the deepest decline in eight months and missing expectations of a 3.2% decline. However, the steep decline in building permits failed to push the Canadian dollar out of current ranges. Investors are likely taking a "cautious" approach ahead of Thursday's Bank of Canada policy rate announcement, which is widely expected to keep the overnight target rate steady at 1%, said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist for Scotia Capital. -By David George-Cosh, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2017; david.george-cosh@dowjones.com

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