US copper falls

Copper crumbled to its lowest since December on Wednesday, as signs of a growth slowdown in China signalled sustained softness in demand from the world's largest metals consumer. Selling mounted late in New York as a flight-to-safety bid in the dollar grew and losses across the metals, agriculture and energy markets gathered pace, nearly wiping out the rebound of earlier this week after last week's near-record sell-off.
In New York, the July COMEX copper contract extended losses below $4 per lb to settle at $3.9135 per lb, down 12.85 cents or 3.2 percent on the day. Data overnight showed China's industrial output growth eased much more than expected in April, pointing to a cool-down in the world's second-biggest economy and less need for further bouts of aggressive monetary tightening.