Copper (JJC) And Copper Diffusion Index (DI):
Headline: BASE METALS: NY Copper Slides On Gloomy Economic Outlook
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Copper futures slumped Friday as a new economic stimulus proposal by U.S. President Barack Obama and a drop in Chinese inflation didn't outweigh the drag from outside markets as investors continue to shed risky assets due to worry that the U.S. or Europe may be slipping toward a recession.
Copper for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, was recently down 11.1 cents, or 2.7%, at $4.0325 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Obama late Thursday proposed a $447 billion package of tax cuts and spending designed to boost the flagging U.S. economy and cut unemployment. But the highly anticipated announcement failed to increase investor demand for risky assets such as stocks and commodities, as the overriding concern for many traders remains the recent slowdown in global growth the widening European debt crisis.
U.S. equities markets fell early Friday, industrial bellwether crude oil was sharply lower, and investors piled into the U.S. dollar as a refuge. Copper is sensitive to the economic outlook because of its widespread uses in manufacturing and construction, and the metal has tracked equities and currencies this week as proxies for global growth expectations.
Source: online.wsj.com
