TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's dollar fell versus the US currency yesterday given a mix of weaker equities, oil prices and data that showed a slightly sharper-than-expected second-quarter contraction in the domestic economy

The currency tumbled to its lowest level since August 19 in the aftermath of data that showed Canada's economy shrank overall in the second quarter to mark its sharpest nine-month downturn in half a century.

The drag from North American equities early in the session also aided the currency's slide to the intraday low of C$1.1094 to the US dollar, or 90.14 US cents.

Canada's dollar began the North American session down as a slide in Chinese equities overnight and sharp drop in oil prices combined to stoke risk aversion.

"You would've thought given what went on with equity markets and on the data front we'd see some (more) weakness in the Canadian dollar," said George Davis, chief technical strategist at RBC Capital Markets.

"But I think we've seen equity markets try to stabilise a little bit here and trade off their lows so I think that's kind of helped keep the sell-off in the Canadian dollar in check."

The Canadian dollar recovered slightly to close at C$1.0950 to the US dollar, or 91.32 US cents, down from C$1.0919 to the US dollar, or 91.58 US cents at Friday's close.

The GDP numbers were not all bad as they showed the economy grew 0.1 percent in June after 10 months of decline, confirming the recession has bottomed out and possibly putting the economy on track for solid third-quarter gains.

It was the last piece of Canadian data until Friday's key jobs report, which is expected to show the economy shed 10,000 jobs in August while the unemployment rate is pegged to rise to 8.7 percent.

Another drag on the Canadian dollar was the price of oil , a key Canadian export, which fell nearly four percent to below $70 a barrel.

Separately, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who warned in early August that steps could be taken to curb a sharp rise in the Canadian dollar, said in Vancouver Sunday he was pleased with the currency's recent stability.

Canadian bond prices were stronger following the weak domestic GDP data and slide in North American equity markets, but the move was held in check ahead of Friday's jobs data and as equities moved off their lows.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended down one percent at 10,868.21, while the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.5 percent.