Copper drops 8 cents per pound in New York

Metals prices were lower Friday as the US dollar strengthened and stockpiles of some base metals grew in London Metal Exchange warehouses.

September copper was 8 cents lower to $3.58 per pound in New York and three-month copper dropped $160 to $7,900 per tonne on weak economic data from the United States and after LME inventories dropped by 8.4 percent on the week, making it look as if demand for the metal used in home construction could be in decline.

Lead inventories were also up in London, by 1,250 tonnes to 92,250 tonnes, sending the metal’s price down $84 to $2,126 per tonne.

Aluminium fell $46 to $2,934 per tonne, nickel was down $50 to $18,300 per tonne, zinc was $75 lower to $1,840 per tonne, and tin dropped $700 to around $21,500 per tonne.

Gold concluded its third losing week in a row as December contracts were down $5.20 to $917.50 per troy ounce just before the close of floor trade in New York, while September silver fell 27 cents to $17.52 pr troy ounce and October platinum plummeted $106.60 to $1,655.30 per troy ounce.