Copper, aluminum and zinc slumped as Asian shares dropped to a two-week low on concerns that growth in China, the engine of the world’s economic recovery, will slow, hurting demand for commodities. Three-month delivery copper dropped for the first time in four days, falling as much as 2.3 percent to $6,711 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, and traded at $6,761 at 1:08 p.m. in Shanghai. Aluminum declined 1.4 percent to $2,000 a ton and zinc lost 2.2 percent to $1,838 a ton. China’s stocks are poised for their longest losing streak in two months after the Conference Board revised down its April gauge for the outlook on China’s economy to indicate a slower pace of expansion. China is the largest copper consumer. “We are not optimistic about metals demand in China,” Yuan Guangshan, an analyst at Zhongcai Futures Co., said from Shanghai. An overhaul of financial institutions by the U.S. is also “a blow to speculative investment,” Yuan said. Group of 20 leaders have responded to the European debt crisis with deficit-reduction targets and agreed to pursue higher capital requirements for banks once economic recoveries take hold. U.S. equities fell, treasuries rallied and the dollar recouped losses as investors sought a refuge from risk aversion. “Deficit cuts fueled expectations of a slowdown in the global economy,” Lin Junhua, an analyst at Jinpeng Futures Co., said from Beijing today. Below April Peak Copper posted the biggest weekly gain in four months last week as the dollar weakened, boosting demand for commodities. The metal, used in wires and pipes, is still almost 16 percent off an April peak. Copper for September delivery in Shanghai dropped as much as 1.4 percent to 53,230 yuan ($7,831) a ton and traded at 53,400 yuan at the midday break. Zinc for October delivery in Shanghai tumbled as much as 3.1 percent to 15,010 yuan a ton before last trading at 15,065 yuan. Lead for three-month delivery in London plunged 3 percent to $1,805 a ton and tin was little changed at $18,240 a ton. Recyclers of the metal in China, the world’s largest, have idled about 8 percent of capacity because of high input costs, according to a state-owned researcher. About 100,000 tons of the country’s 1.2 million tons in annual capacity have been suspended, said Hu Yongda, analyst at Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. --Li Xiaowei. With reporting by Glenys Sim in Singapore. Editor: James Poole To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Li Xiaowei in Shanghai at Xli12@bloomberg.net

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