US copper futures closed with moderate losses on Friday, pressured by quarter-end profit taking and fatigue at recent record highs, but traders said tight market conditions and a strong regional manufacturing report kept a bid tone in the market.
"There was quarter and month-end selling, but there was also buying near the lows, which is what supported prices. And all in all, volume was light," said one copper dealer.
"The PMI might have had something to do with the buying. Funds look at those types of numbers. Whatever did it, people are not anxious to be short," he added. Copper for December delivery shed 1.20 cents to close at $1.7275 a lb. on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, after trading from $1.72 to $1.7375 a lb.
On Thursday, it reached a life-of-contract high at $1.7525. The new spot October contract slipped 0.90 cent to end at $1.8015, in a range between $1.7940 and $1.81 a lb.
September came off the board on Thursday. The rest were mixed, ending down 1.20 cent to up 0.50. Comex estimated final copper volume at 12,000 lots compared with a lighter tally of 8,023 lots on Thursday. Copper was also underpinned by the possibility of a strike at Canada's Kidd Creek mine. "There's a potential strike tonight at (Falconbridge's) Kidd Creek.
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