Commodities Tumble as U.S. Recession Risk Weighs on Oil, Copper (Grant Smith)

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April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Commodities fell for a third day, led by oil, copper and soybeans, on mounting concerns over the slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Oil fell more than $2 a barrel, gold dropped below $900 an ounce for the first time in six weeks, and soybeans slumped 7.6 percent. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index, a weighted index of 26 raw materials fell 1 percent to 1410.17 at 10:37 a.m. New York time today.

The commodity index has fallen 7.8 percent from its March 5 peak as demand for raw materials in the world's largest economy has dropped. Manufacturing in the U.S. contracted for a second month in March, according to an Institute for Supply Management report today. Construction spending declined for a fifth month.

``This phase of the commodity bull market is more or less flushed out,'' said Charles Morris, portfolio manager at HSBC Investment Management. ``We're seeing a big exit from agriculture, probably a big exit from gold, silver.''