Copper skids to lowest in a month as investors reduce risk
By Eric Onstad
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices slumped on Thursday for a fourth session to the lowest in more than a month as investors curbed buying of risky assets and on worries about expected inventory gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had dropped 0.7% to $9,343 a tonne by 1100 GMT, its lowest since Oct. 11.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 1.8% at 68,910 yuan ($10,806.19) a tonne.
"We are heading towards the end of the year so there's some risk reduction," said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan.
"We're hearing about potential exports of copper from China to LME warehouses, and dollar is strong, which is another driver which might force some more liquidation."
Technical signals were also flashing red after copper slipped below its 200-day moving average.
Torlizzi, however, is bullish for copper and expects LME prices next year to surpass their record of $10,747.50 touched in May.
* The dollar hovered just below a 16-month peak as rising inflation supported expectations of U.S. rate hikes around the middle of next year.
* The premium of LME cash aluminium over the three-month contract <MAL0-3> rose to $10.73 a tonne, its highest since Aug. 31, indicating tightening nearby supplies. It was at a discount of $23.50 two weeks ago.
* China's aluminium imports in October rose by 17.4% from the previous month to their highest since July, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.
* LME aluminium fell 0.8% to $2,597 a tonne, zinc declined 1.2% to $3,154.50, lead dropped 0.9% to $2,233, nickel gave up 0.8% to $19,195, but tin rose 0.2% to $38,040.
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($1 = 6.3769 yuan) (Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi Editing by Mark Potter)
