(Reuters) - London copper hit a one-month low on Monday after disappointing earnings from leading U.S. companies and a bigger-than-expected fall in Japan's exports dented appetite for riskier assets. Asian equities dipped after U.S. stocks suffered on Friday their worst day since late June, following disappointing results from Dow components General Electric (GE.N) and McDonald's (MCD.N), both barometers of the overall health of the world's largest economy. Investor mood was further dampened by data that showed Japanese exports fell more than expected in September and sentiment among manufacturers tumbled the most since last year's earthquake. Fears over the world's third largest economy were further underlined by Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa's warning that the country's now-resilient capital spending may be hurt. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1 percent at $8,008 per tonne by 0412 GMT, off a trough of $7,964.25 hit earlier in the session, its lowest since September 10. "Despite poor equities performance and the day's negative news, London copper looks well-supported at $7,900," said CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie. "Losses will be capped in the near-term, since many investors are betting on Beijing rolling out more infrastructure spending or monetary easing programs to support the Chinese economy." Economists polled by Reuters expect further cuts by the end of the year in the reserves China's banks are required to hold, as the world's second largest economy looks set to stage a tepid rebound in the fourth quarter. The most active January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.1 percent to 57,830 yuan ($9,200) per tonne by its midday close, also its cheapest level since September 10, tracking steeper losses in London previously. Copper futures were pressured by weak demand for physical copper in top consumer China, where spot copper is trading at a discount to the ShFE front-month contract of up to 200 yuan. Also indicative of sluggish Chinese downstream demand for copper are rising stocks in ShFE-monitored warehouses, which by Friday had jumped more than 8 percent on the week and a whopping 48.5 percent since early June. "The rise in inventories was due to China's sluggish downstream demand for copper, as well as its recent high copper imports and output levels," said Great Wall Futures Analyst Li Rong. Data on Monday showed Chinese copper production in September matching its second-highest level this year as tight scrap supplies and favorable export policies encouraged smelters to keep output high. China's imports of copper rose 11 percent in September on the month to 394,837 tonnes, the General Administration of Customs said last week. Elsewhere, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised new hurdles on Friday to using the euro zone's rescue fund to inject capital directly into ailing banks from next year, dashing Spain's hopes of soon removing the cost from its strained national debt. U.S. home resales retreated in September from a two-year high, a reminder that America's housing sector is a long way away from full recovery, despite recent signs of improvement. Base metals prices at 0412 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 8008.00 -7.00 -0.09 5.37 SHFE CU FUT JAN3 57830 -630 -1.08 3.95 LME Alum 1971.00 1.00 +0.05 -2.43 SHFE AL FUT JAN3 15475 -40 -0.26 -2.30 HG COPPER DEC2 364.65 0.90 +0.25 6.13 LME Zinc 1894.75 9.75 +0.52 2.70 SHFE ZN FUT JAN3 14960 -105 -0.70 1.12 LME Nickel 16936.00 -14.00 -0.08 -9.48 LME Lead 2118.75 3.75 +0.18 4.12 SHFE PB FUT 15530 -70 -0.45 1.57 LME Tin 21280.00 5.00 +0.02 10.83 LME/Shanghai arb 767 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month ($1=6.2538 Chinese yuan)

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