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Copper settles

with losses

NEW YORK: Comex copper settled lower, failing in its attempt to reach last week's highs despite continued talk of another big fall in LME stocks tomorrow.

May COMEX rose to 120.30 cents, close to last week's high of 120.50 cents. "You will get locals selling into it when approaching that number," a broker said.

Some producers were taking advantage of the recent spike in copper prices and selling into 1997 and 1998, with some sales at 106.50 cents per lb average price for 1997 concluded, the broker said.

May copper settled 1.65 cents down at 117.75 cents per pound, traded 120.30 to 117.60 cents. Volume was estimated at 10,000 lots, compared to 16,179 lots.

Traders estimated that LME stocks would fall 5,000 to 8,000 tonnes tomorrow, largely from Singapore.

Comex stocks rose 463 short tons to 14,624 short tons.

The continuing rail strike in Zambia which has forced ZCCM to make alternative arrangements for its copper shipments, and on-going labor negotiations at Chuquicamata in Chile, are still lending some support to the market, traders said.

PHYSICAL COPPER

Based on settlement prices, merchant copper cathodes for April shipment were quoted at a nominal 121.00 to 121.25 cents a lb. No. 2 scrap copper was quoted at a nominal 99.00 cents a lb, unchanged from April 12th.-Reuter