* Copper down 0.7 pct in London; 1.5 pct in Shanghai * French 10-year bond yields up on Tuesday * Euro zone may slide into recession early 2012 -economists * Asian equities down * Coming Up: U.S. industrial output mm, Oct; 1415 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes, details) By Carrie Ho SHANGHAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Copper fell on Wednesday on lingering worries about the euro zone debt crisis and the weak performance of Asian equities. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.7 percent to $7,698.50 a tonne by 0715 GMT, after rising 1 percent earlier. The most-active January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.5 percent to 56,610 yuan ($8,919.88) per tonne, after falling 1.6 percent on Monday. "Sentiment has been dominated by negative news out of the euro zone, and the weak performance of Asian equities. Physical demand for copper in China has been steady, but there has been a buying fatigue lately with the recent rise in prices," said CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie. Asian shares and the euro fell on Wednesday as signs that rising borrowing costs were affecting AAA-rated France stirred fears that even core euro zone members may not escape contagion from the region's debt crisis. "There are fresh short positions in Shanghai copper today, with sentiment dragged down by the performance of the euro and equities. Chinese investors feel that Shanghai copper is at the right technical point for selling and are bearish about prices going forward," said a Shanghai-based trader. France, the euro zone's second biggest economy, came under heavy fire on global markets on Tuesday reflecting fears it is being sucked into a spiralling debt crisis after a warning that Paris's failure to adapt should be "ringing alarm bells". The bloc's economy grew just 0.2 percent in the third quarter as solid growth in Germany and France was dampened by countries at the sharp end of the debt crisis and economists expect a slide into recession by early next year. Greek conservatives set themselves on a collision course with the European Commission on Tuesday, saying they would not bow to "dictates from Brussels" over a bailout designed to save their country from bankruptcy and safeguard the euro. The U.S. economy lent some cheer to markets on Tuesday after showing signs it maintained speed into the fourth quarter as retail sales increased in October and a gauge of manufacturing in New York state rose this month for the first time since May. Union workers at Freeport Indonesia are extending their strike into a third month, keeping production and exports halted from the world's second biggest copper mine. The strike has, for the moment, little impact on copper futures, which are based on cathodes and are bogged down by negative sentiment over the global economy. But market players said the supply disruption is holding up industry talks over annual contracts for treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) of concentrates in the physical market. Base metals prices at 0715 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7624.00 -56.00 -0.73 -20.58 SHFE CU FUT JAN2 56610 -880 -1.53 -21.21 LME Alum 2129.00 11.00 +0.52 -13.81 SHFE AL FUT JAN2 16100 -105 -0.65 -4.39 HG COPPER DEC1 344.20 -5.95 -1.70 -22.47 LME Zinc 1914.25 6.25 +0.33 -21.99 SHFE ZN FUT JAN2 15125 -180 -1.18 -22.34 LME Nickel 17490.00 -60.00 -0.34 -29.33 LME Lead 1997.50 -8.50 -0.42 -21.67 SHFE PB FUT 15230 -100 -0.65 -17.00 LME Tin 21380.00 230.00 +1.09 -20.52 LME/Shanghai arb 21 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month ($1=6.347 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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