Copper, on course for a second weekly drop in London, may fall as an unexpected stall by France’s economy and higher Chinese inventories of the metal add to concern demand may slow as world growth weakens. Gross domestic product was unchanged in the second quarter from the first, French statistics office Insee said today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast a 0.3 percent gain. Other reports today may show show euro-region industrial production was unchanged in June and U.S. consumer confidence weakened. “I’m looking at copper as a barometer for economic growth,” said Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. “Right now most investors aren’t betting on growth, they are betting on a slowdown or slow growth. That’s why we have seen weakness.” Copper for three-month delivery rose $4 to $8,885 a metric ton by 9:53 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange, erasing a drop of as much as 0.8 percent. Copper for September delivery added 0.2 percent to $4.0155 a pound on the Comex in New York. LME prices are down 2 percent this week and reached an eight-month low on Aug. 9 as commodities and equities plunged after the unprecedented reduction by Standard & Poor’s of its AAA credit rating for the U.S. The MSCI World (MXWO) Index of shares is down 2.2 percent for the week, rebounding from a retreat of as much as 6.8 percent. ‘Hectic Week’ “The market is extremely volatile and extremely nervous,” said Steve Hardcastle, head of client services for industrial commodities at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London. “It is being influenced very heavily by the activity on the equities markets. We’ve had a hectic week, to say the least.” The euro-region production figures are due at 10 a.m. London time, followed by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of U.S. consumer sentiment at 2:55 p.m. The confidence gauge declined to 62 this month, according to the median estimate of 69 economists. That would be the lowest level since March 2009. Copper rose the most since November on the LME yesterday as China’s currency strengthened past 6.4 yuan per dollar for the first time in 17 years. Officials in the country, the top global copper user, are letting the currency appreciate as slowing growth and gyrations in global currencies and stock markets threaten to spark a new recession. The yuan has climbed 0.7 percent this week, the most since December 2007. Short-Selling Ban Shares climbed in Europe today after the European Securities and Markets Authority said yesterday Belgium, France, Italy and Spain plan to impose a ban on short selling or short positions in an effort to restore investor confidence in the markets. Short positions are bets on lower prices. Copper stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 120,819 tons this week, the bourse said today. LME inventories declined for a third week to 461,775 tons. Aluminum for three-month delivery on the LME slipped 0.1 percent to $2,410 a ton, zinc fell 0.2 percent to $2,182 a ton and lead was unchanged at $2,385 a ton. Nickel dropped 0.5 percent to $21,495 a ton, and tin advanced 1.9 percent to $24,050 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in London at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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