Metals: Copper Slides for Fourth Straight Session on Demand Fears
December 18 2018 - 2:41PM
Dow Jones News
By Christopher Alessi and Amrith Ramkumar
Copper prices fell for the fourth consecutive session Tuesday as
fresh worries about the global economy hit commodities across the
board.
Front-month copper for December delivery slumped 3% to $2.6710 a
pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange --
its worst day since Aug. 15 and its lowest close since Oct. 31.
Prices are down 19% from their June four-year highs and on track
for a fourth consecutive quarterly decline, hurt by fears that a
global economic slowdown will lower demand for materials used
heavily in manufacturing and construction.
Weak economic figures from China, in particular, have hurt
industrial metals such as copper lately, as the country is the
world's largest commodity consumer and accounts for about half of
global copper demand. The continuing U.S.-China trade fight has
also stoked demand worries, analysts say.
Stocks around the world and other commodities including oil have
slid lately, a sign to some investors that concerns about the
global economy are growing more pronounced late in the year.
Analysts were looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's latest
interest-rate decision, expected Wednesday afternoon following the
central bank's two-day meeting, for the next event that could
impact sentiment about economic growth.
Elsewhere in base metals, aluminum for delivery in three months
fell 0.8% to $1,926.50 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.
Zinc dropped 0.7% to $2,520, tin slipped 0.7% to $19,210, nickel
was down 1.4% at $10,835 and lead rose 2.2% to $1,973.
Among precious metals, front-month gold for December delivery
inched up 0.1% to $1,249.20 a troy ounce, finishing again at its
highest level since July thanks to a weaker dollar that makes the
metal cheaper for overseas buyers. Most-active silver futures fell
0.4% to $14.701 a troy ounce, platinum was down 0.1% at $794.80 and
palladium inched down 0.2% to $1,179.20.
Write to Christopher Alessi at christopher.alessi@wsj.com and
Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2018 14:26 ET (19:26 GMT)
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