LONDON (Reuters) - Copper hit a 33-month low, gold tumbled and oil slid further on Thursday as prices of industrial materials and other commodities were undermined by growing fears of global recession.
Oil slumped to a 13-month low and is now trading at less than half its July record high of $147 a barrel. Gold slipped more than 2 percent, copper crashed 8 percent, U.S. corn dropped to a 10-month low and coffee and cocoa fell further.
"Markets generally are just selling off. It is that, as much as anything else, that gold is being caught up in," said Stephen Briggs, an analyst at RBS Global Banking & Markets.
"People need to liquidate assets to cover losses elsewhere."
Spot gold was quoted at $835.55/838.05 an ounce at 0955 GMT, down from $848.00 in late New York trade on Wednesday. Earlier it touched a session low of $827.85.
Oil's decline echoed global stock markets with Japan's Nikkei suffering its worst one-day loss since the stock market crash of 1987.
European shares tumbled at the open, shedding more than 6 percent at one point. Although they later came off lows, the fall sparked a sell-off of commodities as investors fretted over the prospect of recession.
"Economic weakness is hitting the stock and oil markets, but the oil price fall is also reflecting a lack of demand," said Francisco Blanch, head of commodity research at Merrill Lynch.
Oil fell for a third straight session, hitting a 13-month low near $71 a barrel.
U.S. crude for November delivery was down $1.83, or 2.5 percent, down at $72.71 a barrel at 1038 GMT. The front-month contract has lost nearly a third in value in three weeks, the steepest such decline since it began trading in 1983.
Copper, used in the construction and power industries, dropped to a 33-month low and other industrial metals also fell, on demand concerns amid mounting fears of a global economic slowdown.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange fell to $4,545 a tonne, a drop of 7.6 percent, to the lowest price since January 2006.
Grains futures around the globe hit new lows on fears that a recession could weaken demand.
Corn futures dropped to a 10-month low in electronic trade, soybean futures fell to a 13-month low while wheat hit a level not seen for 16 months.
By 1025 GMT, December corn futures had dropped 1.6 percent to $3.81-3/4 a bushel after settling in U.S. trade below $4 for the first time in 10 months, while November soybean futures declined 1.4 percent to $8.46-1/4 a bushel.
In soft commodities, January robustas were down $17 or 0.97 percent to $1,744 per tonne at 1029 GMT while December cocoa was down 49 at 1,260 a tonne.
