Copper fell in London to the lowest price in almost a month as equities and commodities slid amid concern about the outlook for world growth after Japan sold yen to protect an economic recovery. The MSCI World Index of shares dropped for a seventh session, and futures indicated U.S. benchmarks will retreat when trading starts in New York. Raw materials from crude oil to wheat declined. A report today may show more Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits. “Sentiment has taken its turn for the worse at the moment, and you’re seeing metals suffer on the back of that,” said Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays Capital in London. “The markets are very worried about what the implications of fiscal austerity mean for the trajectory of economic growth, and therefore for metals demand.” Copper for three-month delivery slid $60, or 0.6 percent, to $9,475 a metric ton by 12:19 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices reached $9,450, the lowest level since July 6. Copper for September delivery declined 0.6 percent to $4.2995 a pound on the Comex in New York. Aluminum dropped for a seventh day. Japan followed Switzerland in weakening its own currency. Reports yesterday showed service industries in the U.S., the largest part of the nation’s economy, expanded in July at the slowest pace in 17 months and European services and manufacturing growth eased last month to the slowest pace in almost two years. ECB Rates Slowing economic growth and the spread of the euro region’s debt crisis to Italy and Spain may prevent the European Central Bank from raising interest rates again this year. The ECB will keep its benchmark rate at 1.5 percent today, according to all 54 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Aluminum for three-month delivery on the LME declined 1.1 percent to $2,497 a ton. The lightweight metal’s streak of declines is the longest since January 2009. Open interest in futures, or the number of contracts outstanding, reached 1.16 million lots on Aug. 1, the highest level since May 16, before slipping the next day. “There is not a lot of appetite from the macro funds,” said Barclays Capital’s Berry. Lower prices had “less to do with a sudden change in the fundamental picture and more to do with momentum trading in quiet conditions,” she said. Prices fell below the 50-day moving average at $2,571.42 yesterday and the 200-day average at $2,515.51 today, prompting funds to close long positions, according to Andrew Silver, a trader at Natixis Commodity Markets Ltd. in London. A long position is a bet on higher prices. Zinc dropped 1.1 percent to $2,350 a ton. Orders to draw the metal used to rust-proof steel from LME warehouses rose 1.8 percent to 114,950 tons, the highest level since April 2006, on a jump in Malaysia. Nickel slid 0.9 percent to $23,592 a ton and tin declined 2.5 percent to $25,650 a ton. Lead fell 0.6 percent to $2,507 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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