Copper prices mixed on falling spending, inventories

Copper prices were mixed Monday on new data from the US indicating that demand will likely continue to decline and on the first drop in London Metal Exchange stockpiles in nearly two months.

The US commerce department said that spending on construction dropped 1.4 percent in the US in December and was down 5.1 percent for 2008 overall.

This, added to the news that consumer spending in the US fell for the sixth month in a row in December, the longest string of declines in spending since 1961, it appeared that demand for copper will probably continue its recent declines.

However, copper inventories in London dropped for the first time since early December, holding back declines in New York trade and producing gains in LME prices.

March copper dropped 4 cents to $1.42 per pound in afternoon trade in New York, but three-month copper in London added $51 to $3,206 per tonne after inventories in LME warehouses dropped 325 tonnes on the session.

Meanwhile, precious metals prices were lower in New York as April gold fell $21.20 to $907.20 per troy ounce, March silver was down 15 cents to $12.42 per troy ounce, and April platinum dropped $12.20 to $980.20 per troy ounce.