The hammering being dished out to oil traders is being watched with growing anxiety by dealers in other markets, not least copper. The fall in oil prices is being read increasingly as a sign of slumping global economic demand - and that does not augur well for the world's most important industrial metal. "The recent tug of war between concerns over poor demand and hope for economic recovery appears to have resolved in favour of the pessimists. With crude oil falling aggressively, fears of a global economic slowdown are crystallising," said Guy Wolf, the head of market analytics at Marex Spectron. The broker's proprietary gauge of trader sentiment in Shanghai, London and New York turned negative last week for the first time since June, suffering its largest one-week decline in four months.