Copper lower in New York

US copper futures back-pedalled from a new 11-week high to close down 1.3 percent on Monday as investors banked profits following the market's recent technical breakout, analysts said.
"I think the copper market is probably due for a pullback," said Eric Wittenauer, futures analyst with A.G. Edwards. "Maybe it's something we'll see throughout the week; right now the contract looks a bit extended and susceptible to a pullback."
Copper for September delivery settled down 4.90 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $3.6565 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, after dealing in a session range between $3.6540 and $3.7480, its loftiest level since May 4.
Last week, solid economic growth statistics from China, the world's leading copper consumer, provided the spark for the benchmark September copper contract to break through stingy resistance at $3.6650.
China's gross domestic product in the second quarter rose 11.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with an 11.1 percent annual rise in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said. "We had a very nice breakout last week and this is nothing more than some healthy profit-taking...especially on a day when basically all of the other metals were down," said one floor dealer down on the floor of the exchange. Final estimated copper futures volumes totalled 14,300 lots, in line with Friday's final count at 13,862 lots.
As of July 20, open interest in COMEX copper futures increased 1,357 lots to 93,068 contracts. Analysts pointedimports during the month of June and a hefty build in London Metal Exchange-monitored warehouse stocks for the market's softer early-week tone. China's refined copper imports fell 7 percent in June from May, as the market struggled to digest a surplus of material left over from heavy imports in March and April and strong increases in domestic production.
Refined copper imports fell to 108,111 tonnes, customs data showed, while net copper imports shrank to 92,540 tonnes, down from 100,009 tonnes in May. "We expect imports to remain muted through September. The arbitrage isn't likely to become positive again until August or September, so we expect to see a bounce back in October import figures," said analyst Bonnie Liu of Macquarie Research.