By Anna Stablum Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Copper fell in London as the dollar strengthened, reducing commodities’ appeal as an alternative investment and prompting some investors to sell the metal after its climb to a 14-month high. The U.S. Dollar Index, which gauges the greenback’s value against six currencies, gained as much as 0.5 percent, paring this year’s drop to 7.3 percent. That made dollar-priced metals more expensive for holders of other monies. “The market driver at the moment is the dollar,” Steve Hardcastle, an analyst at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London, said by phone. He also said some investors opted to sell copper after prices yesterday approached $7,000 a metric ton. Copper for three-month delivery slid $55, or 0.8 percent, to $6,825 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 10:26 a.m. local time. The contract yesterday reached $6,992, the highest intraday price since Sept. 24 last year. Copper for March delivery declined 0.5 percent to $3.119 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The weaker dollar has helped prices to more than double this year, along with record imports into China, the world’s largest copper consumer, and expectations of a pickup in demand as the world recovers from the worst recession since World War II. Prices also drew support from wage talks between miners and employers across South America, Hardcastle said. Mine Evacuation BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, will evacuate its Spence copper mine in northern Chile after worker sabotage, base-metals president Diego Hernandez said yesterday. Mineworkers said an agreement to hold talks with management to end a 37-day strike broke down. The strike has cost 50 tons of production a day at Spence, according to the company. Hernandez also said BHP made a wage offer to workers at its Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile. A report today probably will show that the index of U.S. leading indicators rose for a seventh month in October, signaling the economy will keep expanding into 2010, economists said. The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months rose 0.4 percent after climbing 1 percent in September, according to a Bloomberg News survey. “The market is going to tread water” until the figures are released at 3 p.m. London time, Sucden’s Hardcastle said. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development doubled its growth forecast for the leading developed economies next year and predicted a further acceleration in 2011 as China and other emerging nations power a global recovery. The combined economy of its 30 member countries will expand 1.9 percent next year and 2.5 percent in 2011, the OECD said in a report today. Among other LME metals for three-month delivery, zinc was unchanged at $2,248 a ton, nickel lost 0.6 percent to $17,050 a ton, and aluminum shed 0.8 percent to $2,050 a ton. Lead eased 1.8 percent to $2,359.25 a ton, and tin fell 0.6 percent to $15,100 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Stablum in London at astablum@bloomberg.net

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