BEIJING, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell on Monday on investors jitters' about developments in the Middle East as well as rising inventory of the metal.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.7% to $7,894 per metric ton by 0638 GMT, the most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost 1% to 65,680 yuan ($8,975.99) per ton.
Fears that the Israel-Hamas war could mushroom into a wider Middle East conflict rose on Sunday with Washington warning of a significant risk to U.S. interests in the region as ally Israel pounded Gaza and clashes on its border with Lebanon intensified.
Stocks on the LME
Copper stocks on the SHFE rose for a second consecutive week
on Friday.
Rising supplies also followed profitable import conditions
for Chinese importers, as reflected by a rise in the Yangshan
copper premium.
Although the third-quarter GDP data came in better than expected, China's economy is still going through a weak recovery and the rising supplies are likely to weigh on copper prices, analysts at GF Futures said in a note.
A copper tube producer said their October production fell slightly than that in September because of fewer orders from end-users such as air conditioning makers.
LME aluminium dipped 0.6% to $2,169.50 a ton, tin was little changed at $25,000, zinc slid 1% to $2,413, lead moved down 0.8% to $2,083, and nickel was on hold at $18,580.
SHFE aluminium fell 0.8% to 18,835 yuan a ton, zinc slid 0.8% to 20,810 yuan, lead dipped 0.1% at 16,480 yuan, nickel nudged 0.2% down to 148,890 yuan, and tin slipped 1% to 214,560 yuan.
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($1 = 7.3173 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Janane Venkatraman)