Copper slipped on Wednesday as Chinese holidays limited trading activity, and an uncertain economic outlook stoked concerns about demand for industrial metals. Copper for three month delivery MCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was untraded in official rings, but bid at $6,080 a tonne from $6,116 at the close on Tuesday, and versus a session low of $6,040.25. Chinese markets shut on Oct. 1 for the National Day and Autumn Festival holidays and only reopen on Friday. For a graphic showing hourly volumes and directional trends across LME trading platforms for three-month futures on October 6, please click: here "Chinese holidays are going to take out a lot of interest," said David Wilson, director of metals research, Societe Generale. "There are still concerns about the short-term demand outlook ... the sense that real demand recovery in the world outside China is still quite fragile." Prices of the metal used in power and construction have doubled this year, driven by Chinese stockpiling, improving economic data and new investor cash. But buying by China, the world's top copper consumer, has tailed off and OECD demand is still hampered by the economic slowdown. STOCKS RISING Underlining demand concerns, LME copper stocks, which have climbed since mid-July, rose 725 tonnes to 347,150 tonnes -- their highest since May 2009.

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