Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Canadian dollars (loonies) are pictured in Vancouver, B.C., Sept. 22, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The Canadian dollar moved lower late morning Monday while commodity prices fell as another shot of depressing economic news from Asia depressed commodity prices.

The loonie lost 0.26 of a cent to 100.65 cents US.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 42 cents at $92.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after data showed that Japan's economy grew by only 0.3 per cent in the second quarter from the previous three-month period, half the rate that was expected. It was also sharply lower from the first quarter's upwardly revised rate of 1.3 per cent.

The stall reflected the fallout from Europe's debt crisis and the sharp rise in the value of the yen, which makes it more difficult for the country's export sector to compete in the international marketplace.

Crude prices had also retreated Friday after the International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for global crude demand for the year to 89.6 million barrels a day from 89.9 million due to a "combination of persistently high prices and a weak economic backdrop."

Metals continued to fall following news Friday that export growth in China during July plunged to just one per cent from the previous month's 11.3 per cent, which was well below forecasts of about five per cent.

September copper on the Nymex was off another five cents to US$3.34 a pound. Copper slipped three cents Friday in the wake of the disappointing Chinese data. China is the biggest consumer of the metal.