Copper prices fall on fewer US housing starts in May

Copper prices fell Wednesday as new data showing US housing starts down last month made more of an impression than new numbers indicating that industrial production was up in the US in May.

The Commerce Department reported that new housing starts were down 10 percent overall in May, with single-family home starts falling 17 percent during the month, while applications for building permits dropped 5.9 percent during the same period.

The biggest uses for copper are in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

July copper was a cent lower to $2.99 per pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts for the metal dropped $22 to $6,680 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Other base metals were mixed as nickel, aluminium and zinc were all lower, but tin and lead prices saw gains.

Among precious metals, August gold was down $3.90 to $1,230.50 per troy ounce in New York trade as investors looked for more risk, while some analysts said that gold costs too much right now to convince new investors to buy.

July silver was 14 cents lower to $18.44 per troy ounce while July platinum dropped $10.50 to $1,567.50 per troy ounce and September palladium traded at $475.20 per troy ounce, little changed form Tuesday’s close.