London - Copper fell on Friday after two days of gains, as some investors booked profits ahead of a holiday in China next week and as US first-quarter growth numbers missed analyst forecasts.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down at $7,121 a tonne at 15:24 SA time, after earlier reaching $7,258 a tonne, its highest since April 17.
European shares and oil prices fell too, but are also set to end what looks to be their best week since November.
US first-quarter economic growth expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate, but missed economists forecasts for growth of 3 percent and added to market nerves following signs the economy has weakened in recent weeks.
Market commentators said the data could provide ammunition for the Federal Reserve to maintain its monetary stimulus.
“We're still up across the board on the week,” BNP Paribas analyst Stephen Briggs said.
“There's also a lot of holiday next week in China, so there would have been some profit taking.”
China's markets will be closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week for Labour Day holidays.
Copper has rebounded from one-and-a-half-year lows at $6,762.25 a tonne on Tuesday and was set to close the week up around 2 percent, but is still down 10 percent for the year, under pressure from rising stocks and poor macro data.
“The (industrial metals) sector is well supplied but there are initial signs of a pick-up in physical consumption. At current price levels, most markets look undervalued (and) we think downside risks seem somewhat limited,” said Credit Suisse in a note.
Indicating better on-the-ground demand in China, copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.9 percent or 6,483 tonnes from last Friday, the exchange said earlier.
China consumes about 40 percent of the world's copper.
Recent weak economic data have had a two-pronged impact on LME metals - capping gains due to uncertainty about demand from a sluggish global economy, but also providing some support recently after signals that the European Central Bank could cut rates as soon as next week.
However, a rate cut by the ECB will not do much to pull the euro zone economy out of recession, a Reuters poll of 76 economists showed on Thursday.
“Markets generally seem hopeful that policymakers will continue to ease, starting with the ECB next week,” Standard Bank said in a research note.
“The problem now is that a 25 bps cut seems so well discounted that it may well produce a negative response in risk assets - unless the ECB announces extra measures.”
Nickel was down at $15,378 a tonne from $15,440 at the close on Thursday, while zinc fell to $1,915.75 a tonne from $1,936.
Lead was down at $2,056 from $2,076.5 and aluminium at $1,918.50 from $1,942.
World unwrought aluminium stocks were at 1.233 million tonnes in March versus a revised 1.289 million in February, International Aluminium Institute (IAI) data showed on Friday.
Tin was down at $20,850 from $21,110. - Reuters