COPPER 01.06.2012:- Copper sank on Thursday to its lowest price of 2012,


slammed by a surging dollar, slower demand outlook

and investor flight from risk after a raft of soft U.S.

data compounded an already-fragile growth outlook

linked to Europe's worsening debt and political crisis.

• Copper fell 11 percent in May.

• Prices of the red metal fell along with the euro, which

fell to a 23-month low against the dollar on concerns

about Spain and its troubled banking sector and

uncertainty in front of Friday's U.S. employment

report for May.

• But the pace of selling in copper slowed and prices

recovered a portion of their earlier losses after a Wall

Street Journal story said the European department

of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has started

discussing contingency plans for a rescue loan to

Spain.

• Investors shunned risk after a batch of disappointing

U.S. data, including weekly jobless claims,

manufacturing in the U.S. Midwest, and a lower

revision to overall economic growth pointed to a

slowdown in the recovery. (NEAL BHAI 9999974733)