(Reuters) - London copper eased on Wednesday from a one-month high hit in the previous session but news that top global miner BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP.AX) would delay project expansion due to a slowdown in China helped to cushion prices. BHP Billiton shelved its planned $20-billion Olympic Dam copper expansion as it reported a 35 percent slide in second-half profit in the biggest sign of the pain inflicted by a slowdown in economic growth in top metals consumer China. The miner reported its first annual profit fall in three years in the face of rising costs and falling commodity prices, wrapping up a torrid earnings season for the world's biggest miners. "It may be a fall in profit - but it's still profit," Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of Barratt's Bulletin, a Sydney-based commodity research firm said. "Any cut in project funding could further erode the copper supply pipeline ... We are seeing copper prices find a floor and recover in the fourth quarter," he added. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had slipped nearly 0.3 percent to $7,588.75 per tonne by 0705 GMT, reversing gains seen in the previous session, when prices hit the highest since July 20, at $7,632 per tonne. Prices have recovered by nearly 5 percent from the year's low touched in June, but are still sitting in negative territory for the year. The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 0.84 percent to 55,330 yuan ($8,700) per tonne. Global demand for copper is widely expected to outstrip supply this year despite China's slowing economic growth, on mine disruptions and a lack of new major copper projects. The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said on Tuesday the global market for refined copper was in a 405,000-tonne deficit from January to May this year, sharply bigger than a 98,000-tonne deficit in the same period of 2011. The softer tone was seen in other markets where European shares retreated in early trade in a technical sell-off, with analysts saying expectations of more stimulus measures by central banks were largely priced in and investors were waiting for fresh catalysts to push the market to new highs. .EU Tuesday's rally in metals, on the back of a stronger euro and hopes for a euro zone sovereign debt resolution, may prove short-lived, said commodities broker Sucden. "Volumes were significantly higher than we have seen, but once the short-covering is done we would expect prices to retreat once again," it said in a research note.

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