Copper at $5700 on price overrun fears

Copper has touched the largest three-day loss since October 2004 as investors speculated prices are still exaggerated given a weaker demand outlook for the metal.

Analysts in London said that the metal's decline below $6,000 a metric ton yesterday, for the first time since April, suggested a technical weakness that will attract more selling.

Construction spending in the US, the world's second-largest copper user, fell in November for a third month, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

"This is just brutal,'' said Randy North, a London-based trader at RBC Capital Markets, a London Metal Exchange member. "People are just standing aside, waiting for systematic funds to finish selling off. It seems to be a one-way train,'' he said.

Copper for delivery in three months on the LME fell $155, or 2.7 per cent, to $5,700 a metric ton as of 10:44am local time. It earlier dropped to $5,660, the lowest since April 5.