Copper prices fall on less demand as investment

Copper prices were lower Monday as the metal was in less demand as an investment as the US dollar strengthened.

At last report, September copper was down 9 cents to $2.30 per pound in New York trade, while three-month copper was $185 lower to $5,050 per tonne in afternoon trade on the London Metal Exchange.

Last week, inventories in Shanghai warehouses were at their highest level in over a year at 60,647 tonnes as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) predicted that supply will be 745,000 tonnes higher than demand this eyar and Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) said that the gains in Shanghai stockpiles could mean that China is done purchasing for reserves for the time being.

Aluminium, tin, nickel, lead, and zinc were all also lower in London trade, dropping by 2.7 to 6.1 percent during the day.

The stronger dollar also pushed gold prices lower despite Macquarie Group’s prediction that the price of gold will average $952 per troy ounce this year, a prediction that is 2.7 percent higher than an earlier forecast.

August gold was down $13.20 to $927.50 per troy ounce in New York trade while July silver fell 85 cents to $14.03 per troy ounce and July platinum dropped $45 to $1,213.70 per troy ounce.