(Adds analyst comment, updates prices, changes dateline)

By Polina Devitt

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Copper prices were little

changed on Tuesday as mixed data from top metals consumer China

was balanced by pressure from rising available inventories in

warehouses approved by the London Metal Exchange.

The price of benchmark copper on the LME fell 0.1%

to $9,613 a metric ton by 0945 GMT. On the technical front, the

contract is sandwiched between its 50-day and 100-day moving

averages at $9,659 and $9,567, respectively.

Copper, used in power and construction, is down 2.6% so far

in July as exports to the United States became less appealing

after Washington said last week it planned to impose a 50%

import tariff on copper from August 1.

"LME copper should fall modestly as the 'extra' U.S. front

loading demand eases, allowing inventories to replenish, but

downside appears limited," Morgan Stanley said in a note.

As Washington's announcement left three weeks until the

tariff deadline, the amount of the metal marked as being

prepared for delivery out from the LME warehouses fell to only

11% of the total stocks. At 12,625 tons the so-called cancelled

stocks are at the five-month low compared with 56,325 tons a

month ago.

Meanwhile, data in China showed that the economy slowed less

than expected in the second quarter in a show of resilience in

the face of U.S. tariffs, with June industrial output rising

6.8% year-on-year, ahead of expectations.

However, with new home prices falling at the fastest monthly

pace in eight months, China promised to build liveable,

sustainable and resilient cities in the next phase of its urban

development, abandoning breakneck urban growth that once

super-charged its economy.

The dollar hovered just below a three-week high on Tuesday,

ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that could give

traders a steer on the near-term outlook for interest rates.

LME aluminium rose 0.2% to $2,597 a ton, zinc

lost 1.0% to $2,702.50, lead eased 0.5% to

$1,992, while tin and nickel fell 0.4% to

$33,355 and $14,995, respectively.