Copper tumbles new low

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters): Copper tumbled to its lowest in four-and-a-half years on Monday, hit by a plunge in oil prices to five-year lows and signs of slowing factory growth in Europe and top consumer China.

Chinese purchasing managers' data showed manufacturing had slowed in November, suggesting that the world's second-biggest economy was still losing momentum. Factory activity also slowed in France and Germany in November.

"Longer term it (weaker oil) is good for metals, but in the short term it triggers long liquidation out of commodity basket funds. The danger now is that weakness in Japan, China and Europe pull back recovery in the U.S.," said Fast Markets head of research William Adams.

"Supply (in copper) is growing, so yes it's a double whammy.

The only thing to watch out for is if China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB) comes in again to buy (copper)," he added.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell to $6,230.75 a tonne, its lowest since June 2010, before trading at $6,293 a tonne by 1103 GMT, down 0.89 per cent and adding to losses of 3.1 per cent in the prior session.

Brent crude oil fell more than $2 a barrel to below $68 as investors looked for a price floor after last week's OPEC decision not to cut production. The plunge in prices raised fears of deflation, especially in the euro zone and Japan.

Industry news also weighed on copper. Output at world No. 1 producer Codelco rose 4 per cent year-on-year in the nine months to end-September, boosted by new mine Ministro Hales.