Copper, poised for the biggest monthly advance since December, fell as investors awaited details about European governments’ revamped strategy for curbing the region’s debt crisis. Copper jumped 14 percent last week in London trading as euro-area authorities pledged to boost their rescue fund’s capacity to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) and look beyond their borders for help in doing so. A Nov. 3-4 meeting will cast the Group of 20 nations into another round of crisis resolution. Prices also slumped as the dollar strengthened. “The euphoria after the EU summit outcome last week is waning,” Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said by e-mail. “The strong U.S. dollar is weighing on prices, and so are the weaker equity markets in Asia.” Copper for three-month delivery dropped 2.9 percent to $7,940 a metric ton by 10:33 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices are up 13 percent in October, headed for a first gain in three months. Copper for December delivery fell 3 percent to $3.596 a pound on the Comex in New York. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, increased as much as 1.7 percent. A stronger dollar makes raw materials priced in the currency more expensive in terms of other monies. Equity indexes slid in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia, and futures indicated that U.S. benchmarks will drop when trading begins in New York. Bearish Bets Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators decreased their net-short position in Comex copper futures in the week ended Oct. 25, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Net-short positions, or bets prices will fall, fell by 2,401 contracts, or 45 percent, from a week earlier. Copper stockpiles monitored by the LME fell 0.7 percent to 429,375 tons, the lowest level since March 17, on declines in Asia, daily exchange figures showed today. Stocks dropped 9.4 percent this month, the most since June 2009. Canceled warrants, or orders to draw copper from inventories, fell 5.1 percent to 52,125 tons, paring October’s gain to 63 percent. Aluminum for three-month delivery on the LME dropped 1 percent to $2,220 a ton. Canceled warrants for the lightweight metal declined 1.3 percent to 210,000 tons, the lowest level since Feb. 10. Tin fell 1 percent to $21,875 a ton. Fifteen producers in top global exporter Indonesia agreed to extend a self-imposed ban on exports until the end of the year to help boost prices, Johan Murod, director at PT Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahtera, a group of six smelters, said Oct. 28. The metal has plunged 35 percent from the 2011 high of $33,600 reached in April. Zinc declined 2.2 percent to $1,940.50 a ton and lead retreated 3.5 percent to $2,017.75 a ton. Nickel slid 1.5 percent to $19,410 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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