US copper futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division ended lower early on Wednesday as a firmer US dollar and a potential resolution to a week-long strike at Chile's Codelco encouraged some investors to cash in, brokers and analysts said.
Active May copper down 6.15 cents, or nearly 1.6 percent, at $3.9040 a lb. Range was $3.8750 to $3.9785. By 1 pm EDT (1700 GMT), futures volumes estimated at 24,097 lots. Final volumes on Tuesday totalled 21,139 lots. Open interest in the market was up 1,339 lots at 107,654 contracts open as of April 22.
Copper slides on positive rebound in the dollar, early weakness in the price of crude oil, and concerns about a possible resolution to the week-long strike at the world's largest copper producer Codelco.
Copper prices supported by the strike at Codelco, which in its eighth day, continued to paralyse operations at its Andina and Salvador divisions. Sentiment dampened after the Chilean mine minister reported both sides were progressing toward a deal to resolve the work stoppage, which is costing the company about $10 million a day in lost production.
Record-high copper prices help boost Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's first-quarter profit, which more than doubled. Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson expects a stronger second half of 2008. Freeport upped its average price of copper to $3.75 per pound, compared with its previous estimate of $3.00.
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