Copper fell for a second day in New York as economic growth slowed to a two-year low in China, the top global consumer of the metal. Gross domestic product in China rose 9.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2009, figures from the statistics bureau showed. Prices also retreated as investor confidence in Germany, the third-biggest copper consumer, reached the lowest level in almost three years. “It’s mostly on GDP data,” said Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “The Chinese economy expanded in the third quarter somewhat weaker than expected. The downward trend of past quarters thus continues, although a ‘hard landing’ is still not in sight.” Copper for December delivery slid 10 cents, or 3 percent, to $3.278 a pound by 7:55 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Copper for three-month delivery fell 3.1 percent to $7,260 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. All of the six main LME metals declined, led by tin. China’s economy expanded at less than the median estimate of 9.3 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of 22 economists after a 9.5 percent gain in the previous three months. “I think it was Goldilocks data -- not too hot, not too cold,” said David Thurtell, head of metals research at Citigroup Inc. in Singapore. Stricter Rules House prices gained in fewer than half of the 70 Chinese cities monitored by the government for a second month in September as sales eased following harsher policies to curb the risks of asset bubbles. Construction accounts for a quarter of copper demand, according to the Copper Development Association. While copper prices should rise in the current quarter, October “could be weaker due to a lack of macro direction,” UBS AG analyst Peter Hickson said in a report today. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research said its index of German investor and analyst expectations declined to minus 48.3, the lowest level since November 2008, from minus 43.3 in September. Economists expected a minus 45 reading, the median of 39 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. Aluminum, zinc, lead, nickel and tin dropped in London. 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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