Copper in longest losing streak for six years on China virus fears

• The death toll from the virus rose to 81 on Monday as the government extended the Lunar New Year holiday and more big businesses shut down or told staff to work from home in an effort to curb the outbreak.

LONDON: Copper fell for a ninth consecutive session on Monday, the longest losing streak in six years, as investors worried that a spreading coronavirus outbreak in China would hit demand in the world's biggest metals consumer.

Copper tumbled to its weakest in three months, with other industrial metals also sliding as investors took flight.

The death toll from the virus rose to 81 on Monday as the government extended the Lunar New Year holiday and more big businesses shut down or told staff to work from home in an effort to curb the outbreak.

Copper, regarded as a bellwether of the global economy, has given up all of its gains since early December when a rally pushed prices up nearly 10% to eight-month highs as investors welcomed the first phase of a US-China trade deal and hoped for a rebound in economic growth.

"Chinese demand accounts for about 50% of the majority of base metals," said BMO Capital analyst Timothy Wood-Dow, noting the spread of the virus.

"On Friday, we didn't know this, it seemed quite contained. Now this wider geographical spread is very concerning, so that's feeding through to the market."

Wood-Dow added that Chinese economic growth could still hit 6% this year if the virus is contained, aided by the government's determination to bolster the economy.

"Probably infrastructure investment will just be pushed back to later in the year."

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) dropped 3.1% in final open-outcry trading to $5,743 a tonne, its lowest since Oct. 18.

LME copper last week posted its steepest weekly loss in five years, falling 5.5%, as the virus spread.

"Fingers crossed we will get good earning reports this week from US companies or else the panic selling will be even worse," said one base metals trader who asked to remain anonymous.