BASE METALS: Comex Copper Eases As Longs Sell To Book Profits
Copper futures are lower early Monday, which appears to be selling to exit long positions and book profits by traders who previously bought at lower prices.
Around 9:15 a.m. EST (1415 GMT), December copper was down 2.15 cents to $2.9340 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It looks like probably profit-taking," said Scott Meyers, senior trading analyst with Pioneer Futures division of MF Global. "When you look at the board, you have a euro that is slightly higher and a dollar index down."
These currency moves would normally support copper.
Overall, Meyer said, the metal remains within its range of $2.9180 to $3.6090 over the last two weeks.
"I don't think the chart would look bearish until we get settlements below $2.90, which hasn't happened since the middle of October," he said. "As long as we're above $2.90 on a settlement basis, we look good. A settlement above $3.05 would make this look bullish."
London-based analysts also described the metal as range-bound, perhaps awaiting the release of three U.S. economic reports at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) - the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, pending home sales and construction spending.
