May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Copper dropped to a seven-week low in New York after China ordered banks to set aside more deposits as reserves, fueling concern that the lending curbs by the world’s biggest metals consumer will damp demand. The People’s Bank of China said on its website yesterday that banks’ reserve requirements will be increased by 50 basis points effective May 10. The increase was the third this year as the government seeks to slow economic growth in a bid to curb inflation. “The commodities that are relating to Chinese growth, I would avoid for the time being,” said investor Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report. “The symptoms of a major bubble are all there.” Copper for July delivery fell 3.7 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $3.3165 a pound at 8:35 a.m. on the Comex, after touching $3.305, the lowest price for a most-active contract since March 15. Markets in London and Shanghai are closed today for holidays. Prices also were eroded by signs of increased supply and a rebound in the dollar. Stockpiles of copper tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 0.8 percent to 189,441 metric tons last week, the highest level since at least 2003. The dollar also advanced 0.4 percent against a basket of six major currencies, the first gain in three sessions, reducing the appeal of commodities as alternative investments. The U.S. currency rebounded on concern that the 110 billion euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greece will fail to win support from some of the region’s governments. EU leaders are scheduled to meet on May 7 to discuss the timeline of parliamentary approval. The current rescue plan for Greece is only “postponing the problem,” and the country needs to write off some of its debt, Faber said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “If you look at Greece like a corporation, it’s bust.”

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