By David Hodari and Amrith Ramkumar 

Copper prices fell to start the week, hurt by anxiety over a weakening Chinese economy and a stronger dollar.

Front-month copper for December delivery dipped 1.4% to $2.7185 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen 17% from their four-year highs in June and traded sideways in recent weeks on worries that the tariff fight between the U.S. and China would slow the global economy and weaken demand for industrial materials.

China is the world's largest copper consumer, accounting for about half of global demand, so weak economic data from the country has hurt base metals throughout the year.

Broad fears about a slowdown in global growth have also sent risky investments from stocks to oil tumbling in recent weeks.

"The market's also expecting a slowdown in China, and with there still being no resolution to the trade war and a broad-based equity selloff, there's not an optimistic feeling in markets in general," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Markets. "We continue to see pressure to the downside."

A stronger dollar was also hurting commodities by making them more expensive for overseas buyers. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, rose 0.5%.

Risky investments fell further as the dollar rose after British Prime Minister Theresa May delayed a critical vote on her Brexit bill, throwing both her government and its plans for the U.K.'s exit from the European Union into disarray.

Elsewhere in base metals, aluminum for delivery in three months fell 0.9% to $1,938 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Zinc edged down 0.5% to $2,575, tin fell 0.3% to $18,950, nickel dropped 1% to $10,800 and lead closed down 2.2% at $1,950.

Among precious metals, Comex gold for February delivery, the most active contract, edged down 0.3% to $1,249.40 a troy ounce but was still around its highest level since July. Most-active silver futures fell 0.6% to $14.605, platinum dipped 1.1% to $782.10 and palladium slipped 1% to $1,158.70.

Write to David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com and Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 10, 2018 15:04 ET (20:04 GMT)