Copper drops to US$ 1.76 due to inventory hike at London Exchange

LONDON.- Copper closed with another loss today, this time of 4.45%, at the London Metal Exchange, as the market remained alert to inventory increases in the metal and weakened stock markets amidst deterioration in demand forecasts.

The metal closed at US$ 1.76447 per pound of "grade A" material, compared to US$ 1.84658 on Wednesday and US$ 1.91915 on Tuesday of this week.

As a result of the loss, the monthly average fell to US$ 3.83161, while the yearly average slipped to US$ 3.43431.

Meanwhile, the future-3-month price ended at US$ 1.78035 per pound, down -4.06% from Wednesday (US$ 1.85565).

At the LME, stocks rose by 5,075 metric tons to 252,550. So far this year, there has been an accumulated increase of 55,100 MT (+27.91%).