Copper hits near 5-month low after China-US tension flares.

Byline: S. Kamal Hayder Kazmi

Copper prices slumped to the lowest in almost five months on Wednesday on fears an escalation in US-China trade tension will damage economic growth and curb metals demand. Reports in Chinese newspapers that the world's second biggest economy was ready to use rare earths to strike back in a trade war with the United States hit global financial markets.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange slid to $5,873.50 a tonne, the lowest since...