US copper futures closed higher on Monday, as follow-through short covering from last week boosted values and traders sped up contract rollover from December into March, dealers said. Copper for December delivery settled at $3.0230 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, up 3.20 cents and near the top of its $2.9660-$3.0455 session range.
Most active March futures rose 2.10 cents to close at $3.0505, while the rest of the board ended with gains ranging from 2.10 to 3.40 cents. Comex rollover from the December contract into March continued to be a dominant feature of trade, with first notice day for December delivery just a week away.
"It was a very quiet day, other than the spreads. This morning there was some selling in the December-March, so it brought it in considerably about a thousand lots went on right at the open," said one Comex floor dealer.
By rolling forward, speculative players reposition their holdings in futures to avoid taking actual physical delivery of copper when delivery begins on December 3.
Final estimated volumes totalled 22,623 lots, versus on Friday's official count of 13,236 lots. Open interest in December copper fell 970 lots to 17,215 lots. Interest in March also declined, down 285 lots to 42,779 lots.
Total open interest in the Comex copper market fell 1,305 lots to 77,317 contracts as of November 23. Edward Meir, metals analyst with MF Global in Darien, Connecticut, cited an absence of any major US macro-economic news allowed prices to push higher on Monday, but a slew of US data this week would likely provide more direction. The Conference Board's survey on consumer confidence for November will be released on Tuesday.
The index, which has been declining since August, is expected to fall further to 91.6 in November from 95.6 in October, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Existing home sales, due on Wednesday, are expected to slow to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.00 million units in October from 5.04 million in September, according to economists polled by Reuters.
They forecast that new homes sales, due on Thursday also would decline to an annual rate of 750,000 units in October from 770,000 in September. On Wednesday also brings the Beige Book report on business activity in the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts.
The data will be studied for clues on whether the Fed will cut interest rates again at its next policy meeting on December 11. Revised third quarter US GDP growth is out on Thursday, expected at 4.8 percent. Initially, third quarter GDP was estimated at 3.9 percent.
Fundamentally, the copper market has found some stability near the $3.00 a lb level amid indications of renewed Chinese consumer interest tied to stronger Asian price movement and a 21 percent drop in Shanghai exchange copper warehouse levels last week.
The bullish outlook was reflected in statements from Brazilian minor CVRD, saying that Chinese demand would consume and outstrip supply for years to come. "Even if we keep investing more and more we'll never keep up with Chinese growth," Chief Executive Roger Agnelli told a news conference.
Copper for delivery in three months settled at $6,715 a tonne, up $15 from Friday's close. London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses added another 975 tonnes, bringing total levels to 187,400 tonnes on Monday. Comex copper stocks were unchanged at 17,981 short tons.
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