US copper lower

US copper futures settled easier on Monday after the market was unable to maintain a rally above key resistance levels, prompting investors to bank profits later in the day, dealers said.
"It got up toward that resistance at around $3.50 and just wasn't able to push much higher than that. I think the climb on the was a bit exaggerated it simply got ahead of itself and kind of backed off in one of those wild trading sessions," said William O'Neill, co-founder of California-based commodity consulting firm LOGIC Advisors.
Most-active September copper ended the day down 0.15 cent at $3.42 a lb., after dealing between $3.4010 and $3.5170, its loftiest level in 4-1/2-weeks. Soon-to-be spot July copper lost 0.40 cent to $3.4180, backing away from a session peak at $3.52. The rest of the board closed mixed, from down 0.35 to 0.95 cent firmer. Final copper futures trading volumes were estimated at 17,547 lots, compared with Friday's official count at 14,795 lots. As of June 15, open interest in Comex copper futures fell 978 lots to 78,089 contracts.
O'Neill said on Tuesday's May housing starts may have been partially to blame for the late-day selling, as the data is expected to show continued weakness in the housing sector.
The housing starts report is scheduled to be released on Tuesday at 8:30 am EDT 1230 GMT). Looming strike threats in South America and a week-old work stoppage in Canada kept the bulls in play as the market heads into the seasonally slower summer months.
Edward Emir, metals analysts with Man Financial, noted the contract talks with subcontract workers at Chile's Codelco would probably be the most important development to watch. Subcontract workers at Chile's Codelco said late last week that support was growing for a planned strike at the world's largest copper miner. Codelco produces 1.8 million tonnes of copper per year. Contract talks at Chile's Collahuasi, one of the world's largest copper mines, were also stalled, with union workers refusing to restart negotiations unless the company improves its contract offer.
In Peru, workers at Southern Copper Corp's two copper mines and a smelter plan to go on strike June 23, to demand higher salaries, union leaders told Reuters on Friday. Meanwhile, Strata Plc has no meetings planned with unionised workers at its Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR) in Montreal who went on strike last week, the Anglo-Swiss miner said on Monday.
Strata declared force major at the refinery last week and said shipments would be affected by the strike. The plant is operating with a skeletal staff largely reassigned from other parts of the operation.
Separately, trade data showed non-commercial investors were net short on 8,982 lots of copper on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division as of June 12, compared with a short of 9,583 lots on June 5, the US Commodity Futures Trading said in its weekly Commitment of Traders report.
London Metal Exchange copper warehouse inventories dropped 1,300 tonnes to 116,600 tonnes on Monday, while Comex stocks fell by 488 to 24,342 short tons on Friday. LME copper for delivery in three months backed away from a 4-1/2-week high at $7,695 a tonne, to close at $7,540, up $40 from Friday's close.