Investing.com - Copper futures were down during European morning hours on Monday, trading close to last week’s 18-month low as global growth concerns continued to weigh on the industrial metal. Copper is sensitive to the economic outlook because of its widespread uses in construction and manufacturing. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for May delivery traded at USD3.114 a pound during European morning trade, down 1.1% on the day. New York-traded copper prices fell by as much as 2% earlier in the session to hit a daily low of USD3.083 a pound. Comex copper prices fell to USD3.065 a pound last Thursday, the weakest level since October 20, 2011. Copper prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent sessions, as investors exited the market amid worries about the economic outlook in top copper consumers China and the U.S. Prices of the red metal are down more than 21% since hitting a recent high of USD3.978 a pound hit in February 2012, meeting the standard for a bear market. The International Monetary Fund cut its 2013 forecast for global growth to 3.3% last week, down from its January projection of 3.5%. The growth projection for China was trimmed to 8% from 8.2%, while the growth outlook for the U.S. was lowered to 1.9% from 2%. The IMF also predicted that the euro zone’s economy will shrink 0.3% in 2013 and grow only 1.1% in 2014. Europe as a region is third in global demand for the industrial metal. Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for June delivery rallied 1.9% to trade at USD1,422.45 a troy ounce, while silver for May delivery jumped 1.6% to trade at USD23.33 a troy ounce. Gold and silver futures were higher as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations following last week’s rout.

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