Copper prices slump to 2009 levels, sparking growth concerns

In the wake Tuesday’s whipsaw stock-market reversal, copper prices added to the uneasiness by plunging 6% to pace a broad selloff in the metals sector.

By midday in East Asia, high-grade copper for March delivery HGH5, -5.60%  had dropped 16 cents, or 5.9%, to $2.49 a pound, hitting levels not seen since mid-2009 though off its lows of the day.