Freeport Paces Metal-Maker Plunge as Chinese Recovery Stumbles
- China copper imports fall from record while steel exports rise
- Bloomberg World Mining Index declines most in eight months
European Stocks Close Little Changed After Early Gains
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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. led a drop in miners and equipment makers as signs of a stuttering Chinese economy rekindled demand concerns for industrial metals.
Shares of Phoenix-based Freeport, the world’s largest publicly trader copper producer, fell 10 percent at 12:41 p.m. in New York, leading declines in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of equities. Caterpillar slid 3.6 percent to pace losses in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Bloomberg World Mining Index, up 17 percent this year, fell the most in eight months.