Comex copper down

Copper futures fell to a weaker close on Friday, as funds stuck to the light selling that characterised activity in the red metal all week, traders said. The sharp drop in the US consumer sentiment reading pressured copper, already down because of the latest increases in exchange warehouse copper stocks.
"It's just general fund liquidation, but there's really not a whole lot going on. Some people are trying to pick a range, some people trying to pick a top, but most of the activity has been in nickel, which means they're ignoring copper," said one copper trader.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, benchmark December copper was down 1.15 cents at $1.5930 per lb by the close, in a range that led to $1.5775, which marked its lowest level since August 11. The high was $1.6075.
Spot September copper lost 1.70 cents to finish at $1.6730 in a range between $1.6550 and $1.6805.
COMEX estimated final copper volume at 17,000 lots, a pick up from Thursday's tally of 12,440 lots. Traders said funds have been gradually selling off long copper positions for more than a week to lock in profits, with the US and global economic outlook becoming more cloudy following the battering by Hurricane Katrina.
A series of recent large copper injections at LME warehouses have driven inventory levels up to their highest levels since October 2004.
LME warehouse stocks rose by another 1,050 tonnes on Friday to 81,325 tonnes. COMEX copper inventories decreased by 4 short tons to 9,663 short tons in Friday's daily report.
Meanwhile, copper stocks in the Shanghai Futures Exchange's warehouses fell a tiny 458 tonnes to 42,071 tonnes in the week ended on Thursday.
Still, inventory levels were more than double the 17,265 tonnes held in late April.
LME three-months copper slipped to $3,510 per tonne by the Friday finish, down from the Thursday's close at $3,537. The range extended down below $3,500 to $3,493, marking the lowest level since August 10. Friday's high was $3,550.
A soft September University of Michigan survey of US consumer sentiment dragged on copper, as the fallout from Hurricane Katrina made Americans nervous about an economic slowdown.