Copper lower on new data from China, US

Copper prices fell Thursday on news that China’s economic growth has slowed and that housing starts were down in the United States in March.

New data showed that China’s economy expanded by only 6.1 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, the slowest growth in the Asian nation since the fourth quarter of 1999.

Meanwhile, the US Commerce Department said that new home starts dropped 10.8 percent in March, while the number of building permits issued, a sign of construction activity to come, dropped by 9 percent to record lows.

July copper was down 3 cents to $2.18 per pound in afternoon trade in New York while three-month copper dropped $79 to $4,740 per tonne in London.

The price declines came even though London Metal Exchange stockpiles of the metal used in construction and manufacturing dropped to 475.200 tonnes during the session.

Precious metals prices were also lower, with gold and silver down on indications that inflation could slow down and platinum and palladium, used in the manufacture of motor vehicle pollution control devices, declined with falling car sales after the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association reported that sales in the first quarter were down by 17 percent.

June gold was down $13.70 to $879.80 per troy ounce in New York, while May silver fell 55 cents to $12.26 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped $9.20 to $1,215.80 per troy ounce.

Earlier, in morning trade, palladium was $4.40 lower to $234.10 per troy ounce in New York.