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Image used for illustrative purpose. Pieces of aluminium are pictured after the production process at Aluminium Mostar (Aluminij Mostar) factory in Mostar. Dado Ruvic, Reuters
Prices for copper and aluminium fell in London on Friday as data showing a tumble in euro zone business activity weakened the euro, and the dollar strengthened weighing on prices for industrial metals.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.7% at $8,950 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading.
The Eurozone's dominant services industry contracted and manufacturing sank deeper into recession this month, a survey showed on Friday. The euro plunged to a two-year low after the data, and the U.S. dollar index hit a fresh two-year high.
Eight weeks of the U.S. currency strengthening, which makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies, and concerns about demand in top metals consumer China helped copper to fall by 12% from a four-month peak hit on Sept. 30.
"Industrial metals have also struggled amid heightened tensions and tariff threat, lowering the near-term outlook for growth and demand while gold and other investment metals have received a haven bid," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Gold rose 1% on Friday with signs of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war after Russia's strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile.
A poll, the first on China's economy by Reuters since Donald Trump's sweeping election victory on Nov. 5, showed this week that the United States could impose nearly 40% tariffs on imports from China early next year.
Meanwhile, the recent decline in copper prices helped to revive some part of demand in China - visible in a five-week-long decline in copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
LME aluminium fell 0.7% to $2,614 in official activity, zinc eased 0.9% to $2,963, tin was down 0.2% at $28,700, while nickel added 1.0% to $15,875 with some consumer buying supported by its recent price decline.
Lead rose 0.9% to $2,017 supported by a decline in SHFE-monitored stocks and fresh stocks cancellations in the LME-registered warehouses.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt in London; additional reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Krishna Chandra Eluri)





















