Copper prices fell by about two per cent in both Shanghai and London on Tuesday, as the market was rattled by fresh worries about the euro zone's debt crisis, set off by the Bank of Spain's takeover of a smaller lender. The concerns over Spain's financial stability and the spread of the debt crisis in euro zone nations drove investors to sell the currency. Three month copper on the London Metal Exchange shed USD 165, or 2.4%, to USD 6,745 a tonne by 0701 GMT, after having hit a more than one week high of USD 6,965.5 in the previous session. Shanghai's benchmark third month copper futures contract closed down 2% at CNY 54,140, after a rise of nearly 3% in the previous session. A trader based in Shanghai said “The market is following the ups and downs of news out of Europe, as otherwise there isn't much hot talk. Prices are most likely range bound for now, between USD 6,700 to about USD 6,950. But there's a higher possibility of prices going upward than downward. Some traders and analysts were more bearish on copper prices, saying the Europe crisis and its impact on the global economic outlook would cut deeper into prices. Jinhui Futures deputy GM Mr Lin Yuhui said “After the recent technical rebound, we are likely to see prices going downward in the next two weeks. The upward trend is not over yet, because the impact from Europe will stay and probably get more serious over time.

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