By David Hodari and Amrith Ramkumar

Copper prices edged lower on Tuesday, wobbling as worries about a weaker Chinese economy continued to hang over the market.

Copper for December delivery fell 0.2% to $2.7835 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen more than 15% from their June four-year high, with investors anxious that tariffs and a gradual slowdown in Chinese growth will lower demand for metals used in construction and manufacturing.

Data Tuesday showed inflation in China hit a seven-month high last month, and figures showed a 49% year-over-year drop in home sales in China's 10 major cities during this year's Golden Week -- typically a time for big-ticket purchases.

On top of that, car sales fell in September for the third straight month, putting China on course for its first annual slip in passenger-car sales in almost three decades.

Worries about slower growth in the country, which consumes about half the world's copper and a similar proportion of other industrial materials, as well as China's monthslong tariff fight with the U.S. have dented sentiment in the metals markets, analysts say.

Base metals "will continue to see choppy price action amidst this ongoing macro uncertainty," said Alastair Munro, a broker at Marex Spectron. That said, "any ratchet higher in trade war tensions is likely to result in China resorting to infrastructure stimulus to support growth," a move which would be positive for copper prices, Mr. Munro said.

In London on Tuesday, aluminum for delivery in three months added 0.4% to $2,034.50 a metric ton. Zinc climbed 0.2% to $2,605, tin was up 0.2% at $19,180, nickel edged down 0.7% to $12,530 and lead rose 0.8% to $2,101.

Among precious metals, gold for December delivery continued a recent rebound, climbing 0.4% to $1,235.30 a troy ounce. A weaker dollar has lifted gold lately by making it cheaper for overseas buyers. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 others, dipped 0.2% Tuesday.

Elsewhere in precious metals, most-active silver futures climbed 0.6% to $14.810 a troy ounce. Platinum was up 0.2% at $848 and palladium fell 0.4% to $1,074.20.

Write to David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com and Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2018 10:15 ET (14:15 GMT)

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