(13/04) METALS-Copper ends sharply lower amid commods sell-off

April 13, 2011

Copper ended Tuesday
with its biggest one-day loss in about five weeks, caught in a
broad-based commodity rout led by a sharp drop in oil and fears
that Japan's nuclear crisis could stall a global recovery.
Oil traded in New York has surrendered more than 7 percent
of its value in just two days after Goldman Sachs warned for a
second straight day prices in crude oil and other commodities
would fall.
"All of these markets ... aluminum, oil, copper ... all had
big, big runs over the past few weeks. So what we are seeing is
just a sharp pullback," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of
Sarhan Capital.
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index .CRB, a global
commodities benchmark, fell nearly 2 percent in its sharpest
one-day decline in a month.
London Metal Exchange three-month copper CMCU3 shed $225,
or nearly 2.3 percent, to close at $9,630 a tonne, its largest
daily decline since March 9.
On Monday, the metal rallied to a 5-week peak at $9,944.75,
just 2.4 percent away from its mid-February record at $10,190.
COMEX May copper HGK1 fell 7.65 cents to settle at
$4.3835 per lb, near the lower end of its $4.3610 to $4.4750
session range.