London copper prices dropped to a 16-month low on Thursday, as worried mounted that a rise in COVID-19 cases in key consumer China and aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes would tip the global economy into recession and slow metals demand. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.7% at $8,628.50 a tonne, as of 0330 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since Feb. 19, 2021 at $8,564.50 earlier in the session. The most-traded July copper contract in Shanghai slipped 2.9% to 66,030 yuan ($9,848.02) a tonne by the midday break, hitting its lowest since late-August. “The commodities market is trounced by the ... (full story)