US MIDDAY: copper lower

The September COMEX contract settled with a 6.60-cent loss at $3.9660 per lb, after moving between $3.9485 and $4.0430 on Thursday. Copper shed more than 2 percent of its value on Thursday, as commodities crumbled under the weight of double-dip recession fears after another batch of US economic data undershot market expectations.
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB, a global benchmark for commodities, fell more than 2 percent - on track for its largest daily decline since August 8, when energy, metals and agricultural markets slumped following the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the US triple-A credit rating. Industrial metals were especially hit hard. Copper tumbled to one-week lows, aluminium sank to its lowest level since December last year and tin lost as much as 5 percent at one point during the session.