RTRS:METALS-Copper eases on demand concerns, Fed assurance caps slide
* China to achieve 7.5 pct growth target this yr - poll
* Euro drops against the dollar
* Coming up: G20 finance ministers meeting
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Copper slipped on Friday on concerns about the outlook for demand, with further falls kept in check by reassurance from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that the central bank was flexible with scaling back its economic stimulus measures.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was at $6,880.25 a tonne at 0957 GMT, down 0.3 percent from a last bid of $6,900 on Thursday.
Putting pressure on prices are worries about the outlook for demand from China, which makes up 40 percent of global copper requirement.
China will hit its growth target of 7.5 percent this year, although it is unlikely to gain traction next year as the government trades short-term growth for long-awaited reforms, a Reuters poll showed.
"Demand from China is the biggest issue for base metals. Although the market was reassured by (Fed chairman Ben) Bernanke, there remains a lot of question marks about the outlook for growth from China," said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis.
"Until the market gets more reassurance on that, there will continue to be caution."
Copper prices drew support from Bernanke's testimony before Congress in which he reiterated that the Fed would only start phasing out its stimulus once it is sure the economy is strong enough to stand on its own.
The ultra-loose monetary policy adopted by central banks around the world to boost growth in the last few years has helped prices of commodities as an alternative to interest-bearing investment assets.
But even with looser U.S. monetary policy, slowing demand growth in top copper consumer China suggests upside potential is limited, said Dominic Schnider of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore.
"When you look at China, there's not really any indication that you could see demand accelerating without fresh stimulus which is unlikely to be the case. Given oversupply, we have to consider copper prices falling back to $6,300 in the second half," he said.
Also putting pressure on metals prices, the euro fell against the dollar. A strong dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. unit more expensive for holders of other currencies.
