--Comex September copper down 0.4% at $3.1655/lb --China's growth could slow to 7%, a top government official said --Copper prices move lower on strengthening dollar By Sarah Jacob NEW YORK--Copper futures edged lower Friday after China's finance minister suggested that Beijing would be comfortable with slower growth. The most-actively traded contract, for September delivery, was recently down 1.20 cents, or 0.4%, at $3.1655 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. China's finance minister Lou Jiwei said that while achieving this year's target of 7.5% growth shouldn't be a problem, nor would authorities worry if the pace of economic expansion slowed to 7% or 6.5% this year. A 7% growth rate would be lowest since 1990, and implies a drop in growth to below 7% in the second half of the year. "The 6.5% marker does seem to be aimed at reining in some of the recent market enthusiasm and hopes for government intervention," said Leon Westgate, a strategist at Standard Bank, in a note. Mr. Lou's comments, delivered at a summit in Washington on Thursday evening, come ahead of China's second-quarter economic growth data, due out Monday. Copper prices are highly sensitive to shifts in China's economic activity, as the country accounts for about 40% of the world's copper consumption. Meanwhile, the strengthening dollar also pressured copper futures. The ICE Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against a basket of currencies, was up 0.4% at 83.22 on Friday. Since copper is denominated in dollars, a stronger dollar makes the industrial metal more expensive for overseas buyers in their home currency terms. Additionally, some traders sold their copper holdings to lock in recent gains after prices touched a three-week high on Thursday. "The dollar rebound is seeing base metal prices pull back from earlier gains amid cautious profit-taking," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov. A weaker-than-expected euro-zone industrial production reading early Friday was adding to the downbeat tone, he said. The European Union's statistics agency said May factory output was down 0.3% from April, and 1.3% lower than a year ago. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had estimated that euro-zone industrial production would fall 0.2% on the month and 1.4% on the year. -Francesca Freeman contributed to this article. --Write to Sarah Jacob at sarahann.jacob@dowjones.com

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