* Iron ore hit a four-month high of $50.50/T this week
* Shanghai rebar pulls back from 5-1/2-month high (Updates futures prices)
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Iron ore fell below $50 a tonne after a brief three days above that level as Chinese steel prices retreated further from their highest since September, but the steelmaking commodity was still set to post its fifth weekly gain in six.
Iron ore futures on China's Dalian exchange dropped nearly 2 percent on Friday after touching a 5-1/2-month high earlier in the week.
"While we believe that iron ore prices could remain elevated for some time, we think investors should be prepared to go short if iron ore prices show signs of turning around," Japanese financial firm Nomura said in a note.
Iron ore for immediate delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI fell 2 percent to $49.20 a tonne on Thursday, according to The Steel Index.
The spot benchmark was still up nearly 5 percent for the week, having raced to $50.50 a tonne on Tuesday as rising steel prices at the time spurred Chinese buyers to snap iron ore cargoes in hopes of brisk seasonal steel demand from March.
For the month, iron ore has gained 18.6 percent, its biggest such increase since December 2012. futures have since pulled back. Construction-used rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 closed down 1 percent at 1,922 yuan ($294) a tonne. It touched 1,968 yuan on Monday, its strongest since Sept. 11.
On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most-traded May iron ore DCIOcv1 slid 1.9 percent to finish at 364 yuan per tonne, having peaked this week at 379 yuan. Iron ore futures on the Singapore Exchange 0#SZZF: were steady.
Until Chinese steel demand in spring does disappoint, mills may still boost production ahead, keeping iron ore demand firm in the short term, said a Shanghai-based iron ore trader.
"Buying activity may slow as buyers would try to get a better price and might hold back. That may soften iron ore prices but I don't expect them to drop very fast," he said.
Weak prices pushed top iron ore producer Vale VALE5.SA into a fourth-quarter net loss of $8.57 billion, and the Brazilian miner said it was looking to sell $10 billion in assets to reduce its debt. has cut its cash cost to $11.90 per tonne in the past quarter, which ANZ Bank said was the lowest in the iron ore industry.
Rebar and iron ore prices at 0709 GMT
Contract
Last
Change Pct Change SHFE REBAR MAY6
1922
-19.00
-0.98 DALIAN IRON ORE DCE DCIO MAY6
364
-7.00
-1.89 SGX IRON ORE FUTURES MAR
46.86
-0.11
-0.23 THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX
49.2
-1.00
-1.99 METAL BULLETIN INDEX
49.75
-1.89
-3.66
Dalian iron ore and Shanghai rebar in yuan/tonne Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day ($1 = 6.5368 Chinese yuan)