(31/03) Copper Caps Longest Slump Since June as Global Growth May Slow

March 31, 2011

Copper fell for a fifth day in New York, capping the longest slump since early June, as Japan struggled to contain the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, fanning concern that global growth will slow.

European confidence in the economic outlook worsened in March as surging energy costs and Japan’s crisis clouded world growth prospects, the European Commission said today. Sentiment among U.S. consumers dropped to a three-month low, a report showed yesterday. Copper is heading its first quarterly decline since June 30.
Copper futures for May delivery dropped 7.25 cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $4.274 a pound at 1:21 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the biggest loss since March 9. The price has slumped 3.9 percent this quarter.