LONDON: Copper slipped on Thursday on persistent worries about global growth while aluminium fell after a major producer warned about softer demand.
Zinc, however, bucked the weaker trend as an environmental crackdown in China created shortages of refined metal.
A steady drum beat of weak economic data in recent weeks, including in top metals consumer China, has stoked fears of a global recession. On Thursday, industrial output in Europe's biggest economy Germany unexpectedly fell in December for the fourth consecutive month.
"The macro concerns are still very much there," said analyst Kash Kamal at BMO Capital Markets in London.
"The surprise has come from emerging markets countries apart from China. While Europe is weak, the hopes were for EM ex-China to remain relatively robust, but that's weakened as well."
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.3 percent at $6,263 a tonne by 1100 GMT, having reached a two-month high in the previous session.
Trading remained subdued with markets in China closed for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
* NORSK HYDRO: Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro warned that an uncertain economic outlook could sap demand in the coming year.
Benchmark LME aluminium shed 0.5 percent to $1,897 a tonne.
* ZINC: LME zinc was the only LME metal in positive territory, rising 0.6 percent to $2,720 a tonne after hitting a seven-month high on Tuesday. LME on-warrant inventories - those not earmarked for delivery - have tumbled to the lowest levels since October 2007.
"Refined metal stocks are dwindling and Beijing is cracking down on Chinese smelters, which is creating somewhat of a bottleneck for concentrates flowing through to refined metal," Kamal said.
* NICKEL: LME nickel dipped 0.1 percent to $12,915 a tonne after touching $13,350 on Wednesday, its highest since Aug. 31, partly on worries about top producer Vale.
"Vale concerns continue to lend an element of support to nickel, not in the sense that the company's nickel supply is in any way imperilled, but more on concern about the fines and operational restrictions that could be imposed on the company by the Brazilian government," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
* DOLLAR: Weighing on the complex was a stronger dollar index, making dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
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