By Anna Stablum June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell in New York and London as the dollar strengthened and prices at the highest level in almost two weeks spurred selling. The euro dropped as much as 0.6 percent against the U.S. currency, erasing a gain. A stronger dollar makes metals priced in the currency more expensive in terms of other monies. Copper for September delivery climbed to the highest intraday price since June 3 on the Comex in New York before erasing the advance. “The high correlation to dollar-euro means that” prices will follow currencies, said Alex Heath, head of industrial- metals trading at RBC Capital Markets in London. “There is also a bit of profit-taking.” Futures for September delivery fell 2.65 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $2.9975 a pound by 9:03 a.m. on the Comex. The most- active contract had added as much as 1.4 percent to $3.0675. Copper for delivery in three months dropped 1.2 percent to $6,601 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Prices slid as a report showed that U.S. building permits, a sign of future construction, unexpectedly fell to a one-year low. Permits slid to a 574,000 rate, compared with the estimate for a gain to 625,000 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Construction uses a quarter of all copper produced, according to the Copper Development Association. Zinc for three-month delivery on the LME dropped 1.7 percent to $1,806 a ton. Lead fell 1.3 percent to $1,737 a ton. Global production of refined zinc was about 1.06 million tons in April, against demand of 1.03 million tons, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group said in a report on its website today. World lead output was 728,000 tons in April, versus demand of 713,400 tons. Tin was unchanged at $17,500 a ton, nickel fell 1.9 percent to $19,850 a ton and aluminum slid 1 percent to $1,991 a ton. --With assistance from Jason Scott in Perth and Courtney Schlisserman and Timothy R. Homan in Washington. Editors: Dan Weeks, John Deane. To contact the reporter on the story: Anna Stablum in London at astablum@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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