* C$ at 86.72 U.S. cents
* Bonds advance as equities drift lower
* Canada to boost bond issuance (Adds details)
TORONTO, June 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar cut early gains against the U.S. currency on Friday morning as oil prices turned lower and market players looked to consolidate positions heading into the weekend.
Early action saw the currency boosted by firm commodity prices, while the greenback weakened on a revival in investors' thirst for riskier assets. The currency reached as high as C$1.1445 to the U.S. dollar, or 87.37 U.S. cents.
However, the currency gave up much of those gains as the price of oil, a key Canadian export, fell to around $69 a barrel. Equity markets also came off session highs, taking a bite out of risk appetite.
At 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), the Canadian dollar was at C$1.1531 to the U.S. dollar, or 86.72 U.S. cents, up from C$1.1562 to the U.S. dollar, or 86.49 U.S. cents, at Thursday's close.
"I just think the way that equities have been slowly drifting off, it's been a bit of a consolidation day. We've probably seen a good part of the range for this session," said Steve Butler, director of foreign exchange trading at Scotia Capital.
"We've had a couple of topsy-turvy days, but really no direction again this week."
BONDS ADVANCE
As equity markets ground lower, Canadian bond prices were able to move higher across the curve, mimicking its U.S. counterparts. [ID:nN26322395]
Market players appeared to be taking the Bank of Canada's debt auction announcement in stride, despite the boost to issuance.
The central said on Thursday that gross government bond issuance in the current fiscal year would be about 25 percent higher than the C$82 billion originally forecast in the federal budget. [ID:nN25298355]
The benchmark two-year government bond rose 6 Canadian cents to C$100.08 to yield 1.207 percent, while the 10-year bond gained 10 Canadian cents to C$102.90 to yield 3.403 percent.
The 30-year bond was unchanged at C$118.50 to yield 3.905 percent. The comparable U.S. issue yielded 4.304 percent. (Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Rob Wilson)