Copper fell from its earlier highs by the close of kerb trading at the London Metal Exchange on Friday, as some speculators tried to push down prices before buying again next week. It closed at $7,320 per tonne, up $15 on Thursday's close but well down from its earlier peak of $7,600.
"The funds mostly want to bid up prices for the end-of-month close, but there may be one or two out there that try to push prices down so they can pick up some bargains when they get their fresh fund allocations on Monday," a trader predicted earlier.
Asset managers typically get new tranches of cash in the first week of the month.
Copper and other metals rose earlier as investors whose confidence was boosted by calming noises from the US Federal Reserve about the likelihood of future interest rate rises, again bought commodities such as copper.
"I would suspect that after last night, a lot of people put on risk again," said Richard Duncan, head of investment strategy at ABN Amro Asset Management.
On Thursday, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to 5.25 percent, as widely expected.
Most other metals ended the kerb higher. Aluminium was at $2,630, $75 up from Thursday's close and its highest since early June, and zinc was up $115 at $3,220. Nickel was up $400 at $21,150 and lead was up $10 at $1,015. Tin, untraded, was quoted at $8,100/8,150.
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