By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell in London, leading declines in industrial metals, as a rebound in the dollar against the euro eroded the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The dollar's rally after Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential race wiped out copper's 5.2 percent advance from yesterday and led to a retreat from aluminum to tin. A 2.4 percent increase in copper stockpiles, to their highest since March 2004, also weighed on prices. ``The dollar resumed its strength and particularly for copper, the pressure came from the stockpile increase,'' Leon Westgate, an analyst at Standard Bank Ltd. in London, said today by phone. Copper for delivery in three months dropped $206, or 4.8 percent, to $4,095 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 12:03 p.m. local time. Commodities, as measured by the S&P GSCI index, dropped 1.8 percent today as oil and gold fell. Copper, aluminum and other industrial metals will trade lower than previously expected this year and next, Morgan Stanley and Standard Bank Plc said. Morgan Stanley today said copper will average $3.17 a pound ($6,989 a ton) this year and $1.95 in 2009, down 6 percent and 39 percent respectively from previous estimates. Its aluminum projections were cut by 4 percent this year to $1.18 a pound, and by 21 percent for 2009 to 95 cents. Stockpiles of copper monitored by the LME rose 5,825 tons, or 2.4 percent, to 247,475 tons, the bourse said today. Almost all of the increase was in Europe, where copper inventories are now the highest in the world. Copper Deposits Supplies are being curbed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has 4 percent of the world's copper deposits. Lower metal prices forced traders in the nation's southern Katanga province to close operations and put small-scale miners out of work, officials said. In Kolwezi and Likasi, the biggest trading hubs for hand-dug ore in Katanga, most buying houses closed when prices started plummeting, officials in the towns said. Aluminum lost $26, or 1.2 percent, to $2,083 a ton and nickel tumbled $350, or 2.7 percent, to $12,550 a ton. Lead fell $25, or 1.6 percent, to $1,515 a ton and zinc dropped $35 at $1,204 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net

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