Inventory gains hurt copper prices

Copper prices fell Thursday after inventories watched by the London Metal Exchange were up to 317,575 tonnes during the session, bringing gains in just less than two months to 24 percent, while stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange were also higher.

Shanghai inventories have gained in each of the past six weeks.

Prices for the metal used in construction and manufacturing were hurt by concerns that demand in China will decline, especially considering the gains in Shanghai warehouses.

December copper was 5 cents lower to $2.88 per pound in New York trade, while three-month copper was last reported at $165 lower to $6,250 per tonne in London, a decline of 2.6 percent.

Other base metals prices were also lower on the session.

Most precious metals were also lower, although December silver added 20 cents to $16.67 per troy ounce in New York trade.

December gold was down 30 cents to $996.80 per troy ounce in New York, while October platinum dropped $1.70 to $1,290.60 per troy ounce.