Base metals were mostly down on Tuesday. Copper fell 0.68 cents to close at $2.4374/lb. Nickel dropped more than 21 cents to finish at $7.1320/lb. Zinc lost three-quarters of a penny, ending at $0.7357/lb. Aluminum added less than a quarter of a cent, closing at $0.7634/lb., while lead moved to $0.7493/lb., down more than a penny from the previous session. Copper retreated a bit yesterday capping a six-day rally that pushed the red metal to a nine-month high on Monday. Speculation that demand will slacken in a seasonal slowdown in China had much to do with the drop in prices.

China imported 378,943 metric tons of refined copper last month, a 12% increase from May and the fifth straight record, customs office data showed yesterday.

“Demand should ease after builders filled orders for the summer construction peak and the margin between China and London prices narrowed,” said Pang Ying, an analyst

In the currency market, the dollar climbed higher against the euro. Late Thursday, the euro was trading at $1.4027 vs. $1.4156 on Wednesday. The day’s data was about as bad as it could be. Primary was the Labor Department’s report on nonfarm payrolls, which showed the loss of 467,000 jobs in June. That was in line with ADP figures from Wednesday, and far above the 325,000 contraction predicted by economists.

The unemployment rate edged up to 9.5% from 9.4% in May, not quite as bad as the 9.6% expected. All told, the data “strongly suggest that consensus forecast for a second half recovery is overly optimistic,” said Steve Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities in New York.

Some analysts tried to pretty things up by pointing out that the job loss trend is improving, but Millan L. B. Mulraine, of TD Securities in Toronto, wasn’t having any. “On the whole,