Copper, precious metals down as USD gains

Copper prices dropped Tuesday as fewer investors looked to commodities as a safe place to put their money in the face of fears that inflation will rise as the US dollar strengthened in relation to the euro.

Prices declined even though London Metal Exchange stockpiles dropped 0.6 percent on the session, to their lowest level since early August 2007, and as supply concerns continued as several mines in Chile remained closed due to demonstrations by strikers and another closed today for the fourth time since the strike began two weeks ago.

July copper was down 5 cents to $3.88 per pound in New York while three-month copper dropped $100 to $8,550 per tonne in London.

The decline of investor interest in metals as a hedge against inflation also sent precious metals prices lower.

June gold was down $18.70 to $876.80 per troy ounce in New York, its lowest since the beginning of April, while July silver was 49 cents lower to $16.63 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped $36.60 to $1,942 per troy ounce.