WSJ: Profit Booking Weighs On Comex Copper Futures
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A wave of investor profit-booking pressured Comex copper futures lower despite mildly upbeat U.S. economic data Thursday.
The most actively traded contract, for March delivery, was recently down 4.25 cents, or 1%, at $4.2325 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The thinly traded December-delivery contract was off 4.4 cents, or 1%, at $4.2250 per pound.
Copper prices began declining overnight as investors across the globe moved to cash in gains ahead of the Christmas holiday Friday. Red metal futures dipped on the Shanghai Futures Exchange early Thursday and posted declines in London Metal Exchange trade.
Copper futures are up around 28% this year, though the contract is lower since setting an all-time record high of $4.2965 per pound on Wednesday.
Positive U.S. economic data did little to stem copper's downward trend.
U.S. consumer spending rose 0.4% in November, following an upwardly revised increase of 0.7% in October, the Commerce Department said. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires forecast an increase of 0.5%.
Copper traders watch consumer spending as it accounts for about 70% of demand in the U.S. economy. Moreover, copper is widely used in a variety of consumer products from household appliances such as air-conditioners to consumer electronics such as laptops and TVs.
U.S. jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 420,000 in the week ended Dec. 18, the Labor Department said in its weekly report, outpacing the 2,000 decline forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. The data point to slow improvement in the labor market.
Trading between Christmas and New Year will be even thinner than this week, featuring "lackluster activity and thin ranges," said Credit Agricole analyst Robin Bhar. Sparse trading, however, could see prices vulnerable to profit-taking, Bhar said.
Comex copper future trading will close Thursday at 12:30 p.m. EST in observance of the Christmas day holiday Friday.
-By Tatyana Shumsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3095; tatyana.shumsky@dowjones.com
