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Copper settles weaker

NEW YORK: Comex copper settled lower, dipping to new one-month lows for the second consecutive session on fund long liquidation, traders said, although they expected further near-term losses to be limited.

Today's weakness defied a drawdown in LME warehouse stocks overnight of 2,650 tonnes to 319,375.

Most-active May copper settled 1.00 cent lower at 113.55 cents a lb, traded from 114.50 to 113.50. Spot April was off 1.35 at 113.75, while the deferreds were down 0.90 to up 0.25. Volume was pegged at 9,000 lots, in line with Monday's 9,142.

Several traders and analysts said the May contract should find good support at 113.50 to 113.00 in the May contract. An uptrend line from the contract's Jan 22 and Feb 16 lows currently lies just below the 113 cent mark.

"I think the fundamentals are constructive," said Prudential Securities analyst Bette Raptopoulos, who attributed the recent weakness in part to a lack of buyers in this week's pre-holiday trade. The market will be closed Good Friday, while the Passover holiday begins Wednesday night.

Raptopoulos added that the underlying trend in LME stocks remains downward and the economic outlook appears constructive.-Reuter