Investing.com - Copper futures declined on Wednesday, as ongoing worries over the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis and fresh concerns over a slowdown in demand from top consumer China drove prices lower.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for December delivery traded at USD3.325 a pound during European morning trade, dropping 1.04%.
It earlier fell by as much as 1.45% to trade at a daily low of USD3.307 a pound.
Late Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service cut Spain’s credit rating by two notches to A1 from Aa2, citing high levels of debt in the banking and corporate sectors. Moody’s said it was maintaining a negative outlook on Spain’s rating to reflect the “downside risks from a potential further escalation of the euro area crisis.”
The announcement came one day after Moody’s placed France’s triple-A credit rating on review.
Adding to concerns over the region’s debt crisis, ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut the ratings of 24 Italian banks and financial institutions on Tuesday, citing weaker growth prospects.
Meanwhile, copper prices remained under pressure after data released Tuesday showed that China’s economy expanded at a rate of 9.1% in the third quarter of 2011, below forecasts of 9.2% and slowing from growth of 9.5% in the preceding quarter.
It was the slowest rate of growth since the second quarter of 2009, fuelling concerns over a slowdown in demand from the world’s largest copper consumer.
Copper is sensitive to the global economic outlook because of its widespread uses across industries.
Copper prices remained supported after the world’s second largest copper producer Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold threatened to close its strike-hit Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's second largest.
"We are continuing to assess whether or not the security conditions are conducive for us to continue production," a Freeport spokesman said earlier.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery shed 0.22% to trade at USD1,649.15 a troy ounce, while silver for December delivery fell 0.92% to trade at USD31.53 a troy ounce.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for December delivery traded at USD3.325 a pound during European morning trade, dropping 1.04%.
It earlier fell by as much as 1.45% to trade at a daily low of USD3.307 a pound.
Late Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service cut Spain’s credit rating by two notches to A1 from Aa2, citing high levels of debt in the banking and corporate sectors. Moody’s said it was maintaining a negative outlook on Spain’s rating to reflect the “downside risks from a potential further escalation of the euro area crisis.”
The announcement came one day after Moody’s placed France’s triple-A credit rating on review.
Adding to concerns over the region’s debt crisis, ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut the ratings of 24 Italian banks and financial institutions on Tuesday, citing weaker growth prospects.
Meanwhile, copper prices remained under pressure after data released Tuesday showed that China’s economy expanded at a rate of 9.1% in the third quarter of 2011, below forecasts of 9.2% and slowing from growth of 9.5% in the preceding quarter.
It was the slowest rate of growth since the second quarter of 2009, fuelling concerns over a slowdown in demand from the world’s largest copper consumer.
Copper is sensitive to the global economic outlook because of its widespread uses across industries.
Copper prices remained supported after the world’s second largest copper producer Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold threatened to close its strike-hit Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's second largest.
"We are continuing to assess whether or not the security conditions are conducive for us to continue production," a Freeport spokesman said earlier.
Elsewhere on the Comex, gold for December delivery shed 0.22% to trade at USD1,649.15 a troy ounce, while silver for December delivery fell 0.92% to trade at USD31.53 a troy ounce.