May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices fell for a second day on speculation that China will act to damp its economy, curbing demand for raw materials.

China’s economy faces the risk of a “significant slowdown,” said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who forecast the U.S. recession more than a year before it began. Copper tumbled 5.6 percent in April as China, the world’s biggest metals buyer, enacted measures to cool its property market.

“There are still some big concerns about the situation in China and that higher inflation there will mean the government will keep tightening,” said Michael K. Smith, the president of T&K Futures & Options in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Copper futures for July delivery fell 1.85 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $3.188 a pound on the Comex in New York, down 4.9 percent since the end of April.

Prices fluctuated between gains and losses today as traders weighed the outlook for China against reports that showed improving economic growth in Europe and Japan.

Concerns that the debt crisis in Greece will spread in Europe and derail growth also undermined copper, Smith said. Prices touched $3.055 on May 5, the lowest level in 12 weeks.

“We’ve already seen the bottom of the sell-off with prices hitting $3 last week,” Smith said. “Copper will continue to struggle until everything in Europe gets sorted out, and then we’ll it start climbing again.”

Copper for delivery in three months slipped $25, or 0.4 percent, to $7,025 a metric ton ($3.19 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange. Nickel and lead also fell. Aluminum, tin and zinc advanced.

--Editors: Steve Stroth, Michael Arndt.

To contact the reporter on the story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

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