Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks fell for a second day as commodities producers dropped after reports from China and Germany signaled that demand may slow.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-biggest publicly traded copper producer, decreased 3.4 percent. Nevsun Resources Ltd., which mines gold in Africa, plunged 31 percent after saying production may tumble by half this year. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, the country’s second-largest energy company by market value, fell 4.4 percent as it said it will curtail production because of unplanned maintenance.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 47.43 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,512.42 in Toronto after falling 0.1 percent yesterday, for the first two-day drop since Dec. 15.

“China is the marginal driver of the Canadian stock market,” Mathieu Roy, a money manager at Louisbourg Investments Inc. in Moncton, New Brunswick, said in a telephone interview. The firm oversees about C$1.5 billion ($1.5 billion). “A healthy China that grows quickly and can manage inflation will go a long way into the success of the Canadian stock market.”

The S&P/TSX has gained 4.7 percent this year as raw- materials and energy companies advanced in part on manufacturing data from the U.S., Europe and China that surpassed most economists’ forecasts in Bloomberg surveys. Resources companies make up 48 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Slower Pace

Chinese industrial output growth is likely to decline from December’s pace of 12.8 percent a year due to a slowing global economy and the European debt crisis, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said today in Beijing.

German factory production retreated 2.9 percent in December, the country’s Economy Ministry reported today. Most economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast an increase or no change from November.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s biggest base metals producer, declined 2.1 percent to C$41.60. First Quantum Minerals lost 3.4 percent to C$21.87.

Nevsun sank 31 percent, the most since September 2004, to C$4.40. The company said production may fall 50 percent this year after it revised its reserve estimate for the Bisha mine in Eritrea.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index fell 0.8 percent, the most since Jan. 12. Energy stocks slipped as natural gas fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange on speculation that a government report will show a smaller-than-normal drop in U.S. inventories, boosting a surplus of the fuel over the five-year average.

Canadian Natural Resources lost 4.4 percent to C$38.52. The country’s second-largest energy company by market value said it curtailed production because of unplanned maintenance at the Horizon upgrader. Enerflex Ltd., which provides products and services to the energy industry, fell 1.2 percent to C$12.80.

--Editors: Stephen Kleege, Joanna Ossinger

To contact the reporter on this story: Katia Porzecanski in New York at kporzecansk1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net