* Copper off 2.4 pct at close; biggest daily loss since March
* China tightening fears, weak U.S. data weigh
* Aurubis sees copper revisiting $10,000/T on strong demand
* Coming up: U.S. weekly jobless claims data on Thursday
(Recasts, adds NEW YORK dateline/byline, updates with New York closing price, adds details and analyst comments)
By Chris Kelly and Sue Thomas
NEW YORK/LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Copper suffered its biggest one-day loss since early March on Wednesday, as concerns about inflation-fighting measures in China and disappointing U.S. data pointed to less demand from the world's top-two consumers.
Confidence took a hit from a more than two-month low in China's main stock index, as investors continued to price in more tightening measures and less economic growth in the copper-consuming giant.
China's roaring economy will slow a touch this year, with inflation staying stubbornly above the government's 4 percent target, according to a Reuters poll.
With price pressures likely to prove stubborn, economists expect China to pull a range of levers in coming months to control prices: interest rates, the reserve requirement ratio, and the yuan.
"There continues to be concern that the Chinese authorities may overdo it, or at least, tighten things up even if things slow down," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy with TD Bank Financial Group.
London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper shed $226 or 2.4 percent to finish at $9,124 per tonne, its largest daily decline since March 9, when its lost nearly 2.7 percent of its value.
Earlier, it touched a session trough at $9,080, its lowest since March 15.
The July COMEX copper contract dropped 11.90 cents or 2.8 percent to settle at $4.1340 per lb, near the bottom half of its $4.1285 to $4.2545 range.
Losses mounted in New York after data flagged weakness in the U.S. economic recovery, with reports showing a sharp slowdown in the vast services sector and less hiring by private companies in April.
"It's not only every economic miss we get, but every economic report that is not a home run is now going to be viewed with skepticism," said Zachary Oxman, managing director with TrendMax Futures in Encinitas, California.
Copper had been trading in a strong inverse correlation with the dollar, but the link has weakened recently and on Wednesday both the metal and the currency fell.
PROBLEMATIC SUPPLY
The one cornerstone of the bull story for copper has not changed -- mine supply remains as problematic as ever.
Top producers such as Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Xstrata have reported headline year-on-year drops in copper production of 14 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent respectively.
Chilean miner Antofagasta said first-quarter production came in about 29,000 tonnes below initial targets and cut the full-year target for its flagship Los Pelambres mine.
Top European copper producer Aurubis expects overall demand for copper to remain strong this year with prices picking up at times again to $10,000 a tonne, a senior manager of the company said.
Copper stocks hit an 11-month high, the latest data showed, continuing a rise so far in the second quarter, which is typically a strong seasonal quarter for demand.
In other metals, aluminium closed down $47 at $2,750 a tonne, with rising energy costs and automotive sales preventing further losses. Metal Prices at 1755 GMT COMEX copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2010 Ytd Pct
move COMEX Cu 413.20 -12.10 -2.85 444.70 -7.08 LME Alum 2752.00 -45.00 -1.61 2470.00 11.42 LME Cu 9123.00 -227.00 -2.43 9600.00 -4.97 LME Lead 2454.50 -54.50 -2.17 2550.00 -3.75 LME Nickel 25810.00 -1515.00 -5.54 24750.00 4.28 LME Tin 30950.00 -1350.00 -4.18 26900.00 15.06 LME Zinc 2190.00 -55.00 -2.45 2454.00 -10.76 SHFE Alu 16840.00 5.00 +0.03 16840.00 0.00 SHFE Cu* 67910.00 -1090.00 -1.58 71850.00 -5.48 SHFE Zin 17215.00 -35.00 -0.20 19475.00 -11.60 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Additional reporting by Melanie Burton and Andy Home in London; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)