Copper crumbled Monday to its lower level in nearly a month on mounting fears that heavy debt loads in Europe and the United States will hinder global economic growth, and with it, demand for industrial metals. At nearly 3 percent, it was the red metal's biggest one-day loss in about three weeks as the deteriorating fiscal outlooks in the West prompted investors to cut their exposure in riskier assets and seek the safety of the dollar, which rallied sharply at the start of the week.
In New York, the key December COMEX contract dove 9.90 cents or by 2.9 percent, to settle at $3.3030 per lb, near the bottom of its $3.2720 to $3.4095 session range. In other metals, nickel was the only base metal to end the day higher, gaining $120 to finish at $17,775 per tonne.