* Copper falls more than 3 percent as demand woes persist
* Macquarie cuts 2009 copper outlook 43 pct to around $3,750
* Inventories rise as a result of weak consumption

Industrial metals drifted lower on Monday, with copper slipping more than 3 percent as investors priced in weaker consumption outlook for metals in the face of a global downturn.

European shares dived, tracking losses in Asian markets, with miners like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton falling 1-2 percent.

Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange fell to a session low of $3,680 per tonne and was at $3,695 per tonne by 1030 GMT, versus $3,820 on Friday, when it jumped around 5 percent.

"Sentiment at the moment is overwhelmingly depressed," said Gary Mead, senior commodities analyst at Virtual Metals. "We have not got a clear perspective of how and where the low is and until we do I do not see investment interest surging back."

Lack of demand could be mirrored in the sharply surging LME inventories of copper, which has risen another 1,800 tonnes, bringing the total to 275,900 -- its highest since February 2004. Stocks have risen nearly 40,000 tonnes so far in November alone.

A meeting of the world's 20 major economies in Washington over the weekend did not produce common and concrete measures to avert the global slowdown, traders said.

The leaders agreed on a host of steps to rescue the global economy from the worst financial crisis in 80 years but they left it to individual governments to tailor their responses to their own circumstances and troubled industries.

"The G20 statement was worrying. They seem to admit they can't avoid an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) recession and possibly a worldwide recession," a dealer in Sydney said.

MACQUARIE CUTS

More doom and gloom came in a survey showing that the U.S. economy is in recession and will contract at a faster pace in the fourth quarter, extending the decline into early 2009.

The National Association of Business Economists' poll of 50 professional forecasters released on Monday found that real gross domestic product in the United States was expected to fall 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter and slump 1.3 percent in the first three months of 2009.

In Europe the picture was no different. The Confederation of British Industry forecast that Britain will suffer its sharpest economic contraction in almost two decades next year, and unemployment could rise to almost 3 million by 2010.

In tandem, Macquarie Bank joined the list of banks cutting their price outlooks for metals, slashing its 2009 forecast for copper by 43 percent.

"We now see surpluses developing in many of the major metal markets in the very near term, which is likely to sustain a strong shift in pricing and producer behaviour," Macquarie Research said in a note.

The dollar fell against the euro and the sterling but did not help metals. In theory, metals tend to move in the opposite direction of the dollar, as a strong U.S. currency makes them more expensive for local currency holders.

Nickel was at $10,645 versus $11,000 on Friday while lead was down $31 at $1,319, and zinc at $1,170, from $1,200. Tin slipped $275 to $13,625.

Aluminium was down $35 at $1,890 a tonne. China will increase the value-added-tax (VAT) rebate on exports of aluminium sheet and strip, effective Dec. 1, the Ministry of Finance said. [ID:nHKG310061]

Metals prices at 1028 GMT: Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2007 Ytd Pct

move LME Cu 3675.00 -145.00 -3.80 6670.00 -44.90 SHFE Cu* 29360.00 -640.00 -2.13 56880.00 -48.38 LME Alum 1885.00 -40.00 -2.08 2403.00 -21.56 SHFE Alu* 13710.00 10.00 +0.07 18180.00 -24.59 COMEX Cu** 170.15 0.00 +0.00 303.05 -43.85 LME Zinc 1165.00 -35.00 -2.92 2370.00 -50.84 SHFE Zinc* 9655.00 -55.00 -0.57 18950.00 -49.05 LME Nick 10645.00 -355.00 -3.23 26350.00 -59.60 LME Lead 1317.00 -33.00 -2.44 2550.00 -48.35 LME Tin 13625.00 -275.00 -1.98 16400.00 -16.92 ** 1st contract month for COMEX copper * 3rd contact month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 – Forex Pros