Copper drops 23 cents per pound in New York

Base metals prices dropped substantially on Thursday as investors were not willing to take on any risk in the wake of falling equities markets and continuing worries about the global economy.

December copper in New York was down 23.1 cents, or 7 percent, to $3.091 per pound, its biggest percentage decline since the beginning of January, although it remains up 7.7 percent on the year.

News that US housing starts were down by 6.1 percent in July to an annual rate of 1.381 million, added to worries about the continuing chaos in the subprime sector, led to new concerns that the wider economy will be impacted and that demand for industrial metals such as copper will decline.

Meanwhile in London, copper prices fell 7.7 percent to $6,790 per tonne after London Metal Exchange stockpiles added 2.8 percent to 119,350 tonnes.

Other base metals also declined on the LME.

Aluminium fell 3.3 percent to $2,468 per tonne, while nickel dropped 5.6 percent to $25,025 per tonne.

Lead was 5.7 percent lower to $2,820 per tonne even though LME stockpiles dropped to a 21-year low after a decline of 400 tonnes.

Zinc fell 8.3 percent on the session to trade at $2,970 per tonne.