Shanghai copper slips

The most-traded February copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged down 0.18 percent to 56,920 yuan ($9,100) a tonne on Monday. SHFE figures paint a similar picture, notes Standard Bank, as open interest last week gained 6.9 percent while prices for the January 2013 contract fell by just over 2 percent. "This suggests bears are in the ascendancy, in China at least, even amid a market often dominated by a large day-trading population," it said in a note.