Chinese banks extended 1.1 trillion yuan ($159 billion) in net new yuan loans in April, above analysts' expectations.
"While people were fearing tightening monetary policy in China would reduce growth, it's unlikely the Chinese will really push a hard tightening. They want to keep the economy on a very even keel in the run up to politburo change in the autumn," Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at ETF Securities, said.
Reining in excessive local government debt and the shadow banking sector in China has been high on the central government's agenda in recent weeks, leading to concerns growth will stall.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ended up 0.3 percent at $5,559 a tonne, after settling 0.8 percent up overnight.
LME data showed copper stocks fell 7,350 tonnes to 329,375, their lowest since March 3. Copper stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell to 194,993 tonnes, their lowest since Jan. 20.
LME copper may test a support at $5,472 per tonne, a break below which could cause a further loss into the range of $5,365-$5,427.
The dollar fell after weaker-than-expected US economic data raised doubts about whether the Federal Reserve will assume a hawkish bent through the year end. A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for non-US investors.
China's industrial output is expected to have risen by 7.1 percent in April, slowing from a 7.6 percent rise in March, while fixed asset investment probably stayed relatively stable at 9.1 percent in April.
Russian aluminium giant Rusal posted higher first-quarter recurring net profit on Friday amid stronger aluminium prices and said it was preparing to resume construction of its aluminium smelter in Siberia.
Aluminium ended up 0.9 percent at $1,891 a tonne, nickel ended up 0.1 percent at $9,320, zinc closed down 1.4 percent at $2,554, lead closed down 2.3 percent at $2,126, having earlier touched its lowest since April 21 at $2,116, while tin ended down 0.1 percent at $19,825.
Copyright Reuters, 2017