Canada’s dollar traded near the lowest level this week before a decision by the central bank on interest rates. The currency, nicknamed the loonie, is up 0.8 percent since June 1, the day the Bank of Canada became the first Group of Seven nations central bank to raise interest rates since July 2008. The bank increased its policy rate by a half-percentage point over two meetings, in June and July, to 0.75 percent from a record low 0.25 percent. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey forecast policy makers will boost it to 1 percent today.

“The entire market seems to be expecting a 25 basis-point hike, followed by a dovish statement,’’ Steve Butler, director of foreign-exchange trading in Toronto at Bank of Nova Scotia’s Scotia Capital unit, wrote via e-mail. “Canada is recovering, but there is still too much uncertainty in the U.S.’

The Canadian currency fell as much as 0.3 percent to C$1.0509 per U.S. dollar and advanced as much as 0.3 percent to C$1.0451 per U.S. dollar before trading at C$1.0473 at 8:23 a.m. in Toronto. It closed at C$1.0480 yesterday. It touched a low of C$1.0381 on Sept. 3. One Canadian dollar buys 95.47 U.S. cents.

“My eye is on C$1.0680 on the top side and C$1.0340 on the downside,” Michael Leavitt, a Montreal-based institutional- derivatives broker at MF Global Canada Co., wrote via e-mail.

The MSCI World Index of stocks was little changed after falling earlier as much as 0.5 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.5 percent after falling 0.4 percent.

“Given the still-firm underlying domestic fundamentals and the extremely accommodative levels of rates, RBC expects the bank to hike the overnight target by 25 basis points to 1 percent today,” Adam Cole, London-based global head of currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada’s RBC Capital Markets unit, wrote in a note to clients.

Policy makers will likely emphasize a slowing U.S. recovery to set up a pause at the October meeting, Cole wrote. The central bank meets on Oct. 19 and Dec. 7.