CANADA FX DEBT-C$ dips, bonds steady ahead of jobs data

* Canadian dollar softens to 93.97 U.S. cents

* Largely flat after overnight weakness, eye on equities

* Bonds steady

* Markets await Friday's U.S., Canada October jobs data

TORONTO, Nov 5 - Canada's dollar was slightly lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as market players held back from major commitments ahead of jobs data from Canada and the U.S..

Market watchers were waiting this Friday's employment reports from both Canada and the United States for further clues on the strength of the economic recovery. Canada is expected to show the economy added 10,000 jobs in October.

At 8:10 a.m. (1310 GMT), the Canadian dollar was at C$1.0642 to the U.S. dollar, or 93.97 U.S. cents, down from C$1.0638 to the U.S. dollar, or 94.00 U.S. cents, at Wednesday's close.

"It seems very quiet market at the moment. Markets are sort of struggling for direction in the short term after a fair bit of event risk this week and more to come. There's probably not much appetite to get involved at these levels," said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist, at TD Securities.

The Canadian currency had hit its highest level in more than a week on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its commitment to low borrowing costs for an "extended period."

Overnight weakness pushed the Canadian currency as low as C$1.0682 to the U.S. dollar, or 93.62 U.S. cents, as perceived higher risk currencies fell on profit-taking ahead of interest rate decisions by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

After the overseas rate decisions, where both central banks kept rates unchanged, the currency was largely flat from the previous session. It was likely to key off movement in the equity markets during the session.

"I think intraday we'll probably hinge off risk appetite, and what equity markets do. The Fed kept policy accommodation intact yesterday...that suggests the U.S. dollar is generally going to struggle here," said Osborne.

Meantime, Canadian bond prices were flat across the curve as market players marked time ahead of the jobs data.

The two-year bond was up 1 Canadian cent at C$99.69 to yield 1.403 percent, while the 10-year bond was unchanged at C$102.15 to yield 3.483 percent.