opper declined for the first time in four days in Asia as some investors deemed the climb to a seven-week high as excessive amid concerns that the economic recovery may falter. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange declined as much as 1.6 percent to $6,752 a metric ton before trading at $6,761.50 at 9:20 a.m. in Singapore. Futures in New York lost as much as 1.5 percent to $3.0475 a pound, also down for the first day in four. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that the U.S. economic outlook “remains unusually uncertain,” without offering additional measures to stimulate growth. “Market sentiment today has been affected by Bernanke’s comments overnight,” Liu Xu, an analyst at China International Futures Co., said from Shenzhen. “It’s a good excuse to take profit.” Copper reached $6,886 a ton yesterday, the highest level since June 1, after Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world’s biggest publicly traded producer, called the metal’s outlook “positive.” The continued contraction of LME stockpiles, decreasing yesterday for a 24th day, also helped support prices. “We are still optimistic about consumption going forward,” said Liu. “While some of the economic data around the world hasn’t been ideal, we think this is part of any recovery process. The issues weighing on the market in the first half of the year, that is Europe and China, have now abated.” Copper slumped 11.7 percent in the first six months of the year on concern Europe’s fiscal crisis would slow the global recovery and China’s curbs on lending and property speculation would cut demand. Aluminum in London fell 0.7 percent to $1,995 a ton, zinc dropped 1.6 percent to $1,887 a ton and lead lost 1.5 percent to $1,839 a ton. Nickel declined 0.5 percent to $19,400 a ton, and tin hadn’t traded by 9:22 a.m. in Singapore. To contact the reporter for this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net

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