Copper at one-week low on China, Eurozone growth woes

Industrial metals fell on Tuesday, with copper dropping to its lowest in a week due to a weaker euro and on signs of a slowdown in the pace of economic growth in China, the world's top copper consumer. Copper for three months delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell to $6,700 a tonne by 0904 GMT, after falling as low as $6,678 a tonne, its lowest since May 25 and versus $6,939 a tonne on Friday. "The market's weakening on Chinese PMI data," said analyst David Thurtell at Citi, referring to China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) which dropped to 53.9 in May from 55.7 in April. LME copper stocks were down 1,150 tonnes at 475,575 tonnes, their lowest since mid-December 2009, but was not enough to lift prices. Technically, copper was expected to weaken. In a short-term view, Reuters analyst Wang Tao said copper could dip to $6,661.50, based on hourly charts. Copper, seen as a gauge for economic activity, has fallen around 10 per cent since the start of the year, while May saw commodity prices measured by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB fall more than 8 percent, their weakest in 18 months. LME aluminium fell to $1,995 a tonne from $2,042 a tonne, while nickel was down at $20,500 a tonne from $21,350. The key stainless steel ingredient fell to $20.450 a tonne, a low last seen in early May. Tin was at $17,475 a tonne from Friday's $17,900 and battery material lead was at $1,770 from $1,849 while zinc dropped to $1,859 a tonne from $1,936.