Copper drops as consumer spending stalls, signals slower demand
Sunday, 30 May 2010
LONDON, May 30 (Bloomberg): Copper fell for the first time in three days as a report showed that US consumer spending stalled in April and equity markets declined, dimming prospects for metal demand.
Consumer purchases failed to increase for the first time since September, Commerce Department figures showed today. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell as much as 1.7 per cent. This month, copper dropped 7.4 per cent, the most since January, as Europe's debt crisis and China's moves to cool its economy boosted concerns that the global recovery will falter.
"There's still so much uncertainty with the macro picture that you're seeing people continue to take some risk off the table," said Matthew Zeman, a trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. "People really want to think twice before going long in these markets."
Copper futures for July delivery dropped 5.4 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $3.1045 a pound on the Comex in New York. The decline accelerated after Spain lost its AAA credit grade at Fitch Ratings.
Concerns persist that China, the world's biggest metal consumer, may take more measures to cool its real-estate market, said Daniel Major, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London.
Copper for delivery in three months declined 0.6 per cent to $6,939 a metric ton ($3.15 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange.
Consumer purchases failed to increase for the first time since September, Commerce Department figures showed today. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell as much as 1.7 per cent. This month, copper dropped 7.4 per cent, the most since January, as Europe's debt crisis and China's moves to cool its economy boosted concerns that the global recovery will falter.
"There's still so much uncertainty with the macro picture that you're seeing people continue to take some risk off the table," said Matthew Zeman, a trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. "People really want to think twice before going long in these markets."
Copper futures for July delivery dropped 5.4 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $3.1045 a pound on the Comex in New York. The decline accelerated after Spain lost its AAA credit grade at Fitch Ratings.
Concerns persist that China, the world's biggest metal consumer, may take more measures to cool its real-estate market, said Daniel Major, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London.
Copper for delivery in three months declined 0.6 per cent to $6,939 a metric ton ($3.15 a pound) on the London Metal Exchange.