Canadian dollar touches a six-day low at 1.2584 Price of U.S. oil settles 1.7% lower Canadian factory sales jump by 2.1% in June from May British 10 year yield hits a near 2 week low at 1.122% By Fergal Smith TORONTO, Aug 16 - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart in China as data showing slower economic growth in Canada weighed on investor sentiment overshadowing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's early election calls. The loonie was trading 0.5% lower on the greenback in 1.2571 at the banknote, or 79.55 US cents, after touching its weakest level since last Tuesday at 1.2584. The currency was affected by a sharp fall in global growth expectations, said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist of Cambridge Global Payments. Global share markets slid after a raft of Chinese economic indicators showed a surprisingly sharp slowdown in the engine of global growth, just as much of the world races to stem the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Canada is a major exporter of commodities, including oil and copper. The loonie is sensitive to the global economic prospects. The crude futures market was down 1.7%, dropping $67.29 a barrel, while the copper trade trend was down 1.6%. Trudeau called an election for Sept 20 on Sunday, betting that high vaccination rates against coronavirus and a post-pandemic economic rebound will help him prolong and strengthen his grip on power. Schamotta's polling margin remains narrow and the currency markets see little daylight between the political parties on fiscal and economic policy, Trudeau says. The election is something of a nothingburger in FX perspective. May Data was mixed in June Domestic data. Price sales jumped by 2.1% from May, while wholesale trade fell 0.8% to $88.6 million. Data from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed home sales falling in July for the fourth straight month, down 3.5% from June. The Canadian bonds yields eased across a flatter curve, tracking the move in U.S. Treasuries. The 10 year period hit its lowest level since Aug. 4 at 1.122% before recovering to 1.154%, down 3 basis points on the day.