Copper sinks

Reuters

London

Copper prices plummeted on Monday to their lowest in 6-1/2 years as large losses on Chinese equity markets reinforced tarnished prospects for growth and demand in the world's biggest consumer of industrial metals.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange ended down 2.2 percent at $4,387 a tonne. The metal used in power and construction earlier touched $4,381, its lowest since May 2009.

Chinese markets have had a rough start to the year, buffeted by the falling yuan, two days of stock exchange suspensions last week and weak factory and service sector activity surveys.  Chinese stocks ended more than 5 percent down after a 10 percent plunge last week, which triggered a global sell-off of riskier assets.

"China's stock market and base metals are reflecting uncertainty about its economy," Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Asa Bridle said.