Copper fell for a second day in London on speculation that demand in China, the world’s biggest metals user, may slow after prices surged to a record and stockpiles expanded. Copper has rallied 26 percent this year, making it the third-highest climber among the six main metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, behind tin and nickel. Inventories monitored by the LME rose for the ninth day today to the highest since Oct. 29, signaling slowing demand. Stockpiles overseen by the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 10 percent to a six-month high last week. The metal has lost 1.2 percent since reaching a record $9,392 a metric ton in London two days ago. “We’re bound to see demand destruction from price- sensitive Chinese buyers, more so because we’re currently in the slow-consumption season,” said Yang Jun, a Beijing-based analyst at Hongyuan Futures Co. “While the longer-term fundamentals are supportive of prices, I do think investors outside of China are being a bit too optimistic about China’s demand going forward.” Copper for delivery in three months dropped $72, or 0.8 percent, to $9,278 a ton at 9:20 a.m. on the LME. Copper for delivery in March fell 0.7 percent to $4.2455 a pound on the Comex in New York. All six main metals traded on the LME declined, led by zinc. LME copper stockpiles gained 1 percent to 367,725 tons today, daily exchange figures showed. Orders to draw copper from LME stocks, or canceled warrants, rose 1.2 percent to 16,650 tons. U.S. Economic Data Prices may be underpinned today by data signaling a speeding up of the economy in the U.S., the second-biggest copper user after China. “There is a bunch of U.S. statistics due, with the durable goods report, new home sales and initial jobless claims to be digested by the market ahead of the Christmas Holidays,” Leonid Slipchenko, a Moscow-based strategist at UralSib Financial Corp., said by e-mail. Spending by U.S. consumers and businesses probably accelerated in November, economists said before today’s reports. Household purchases in the world’s largest economy rose 0.5 percent after a 0.4 percent increase in October, according to the median estimate of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Demand for durable goods excluding cars and aircraft may have climbed 1.8 percent after a 2.7 percent decline in October. Auto dealers are among retailers seeing improved demand. Car sales in November rose to a 12.26 million unit pace, the highest since the government’s cash-for-clunkers program in August 2009, industry data showed this month. Demand over the past three months is the strongest in two years. Nickel, Zinc Slide The Labor Department is scheduled to report that initial jobless benefits applications in the period ended Dec. 18 held at 420,000, according to a survey median. Another report may show sales of new houses last month rose 6 percent from October to a 300,000 annual pace. Tin for three-month delivery on the LME fell 0.8 percent to $26,600 a ton. Aluminum declined 0.9 percent to $2,439 a ton and nickel fell 1.3 percent to $23,741 a ton. Lead fell 0.6 percent to $2,426 a ton and zinc dropped 1.4 percent to $2,298.25 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter@bloomberg.net.

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