NEW YORK: Most commodities fell on Monday, with copper and silver dropping steeply after top buyer China cut its economic growth target, a move that also limited gains for oil on possible disruptions to supplies from Iran.
"With China reducing the expected growth rate, the concern is there is the possibility of a bigger downside," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.
Questions about European growth, and therefore demand for raw materials, intensified after a gauge of activity at manufacturing and service companies slipped in February.
In the United States, data showing the services sector expanded in February at its fastest pace in a year failed to interrupt commodity market declines, especially after a report indicated new orders for factory goods dropped in January.
The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index settled about a half percent lower at 319.45. Though most components fell, gains in oil limited the index's decline.
Supply risks and tensions over Iran's nuclear program supported oil, but concerns about economic growth in China, Europe and the United States capped the gains.
US President Barack Obama met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, hoping to convince Israel to give sanctions time to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"The geopolitical risk factor is putting a floor under (the oil price)," said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC.
Brent April crude rose 15 cents to settle at $123.80 a barrel, after falling as low as $122.66. US April crude closed 2 cents higher at $106.72 per barrel, after trading from $105.50 to $107.42.
Copper lost more than 1 percent after China announced its lowest annual growth target in eight years, sparking concerns about demand from the world's largest buyer of industrial metals.
Speaking at the annual session of China's National People's Congress, Premier Wen Jiabao cut his nation's 2012 growth goal to 7.5 percent from the longstanding 8 percent.
"That's obviously going to throttle back some of their copper needs, to a certain degree," said Sterling Smith, an analyst for Country Hedging Inc in St. Paul, Minnesota.
London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper shed $75 to close at $8,505 a tonne. Losses mounted after the close, dragging prices below $8,500.
Gold fell 1 percent, dropping with equity markets, after China cut its growth targets. The precious metal could pull back further if it fails to hold key support.
Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,703.79 an ounce by 2:35 p.m. EST (1935 GMT).
Silver lost 2 percent at $33.75 an ounce, after dropping 2.5 percent last week, getting hit as an industrial and financial instrument.
Among agricultural futures, corn rose on technical buying and tighter supplies, while soy and wheat slipped in choppy trading ahead of a US government crop report later in the week.
US natural gas futures ended down 5 percent, with mild late-winter weather and record-high supplies driving the front-month contract below technical support.
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