US copper lower

Copper prices closed down on Tuesday, as concerns about swollen inventory levels weighed on sentiment and investor position-squaring picked up pace as the dollar extended its late-year rally. "The fundamentals of copper aren't that fantastic at the moment and I think we are seeing some recognition of that. LME stocks continue to move higher," said Dan Smith, a metals analyst at Standard Chartered.
Benchmark copper for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division shed 2.05 cents to end at $3.1380 a lb. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for three-months delivery ended at $6,881 a tonne, down from a close of $6,940 on Monday. Highlighting still weak physical demand, copper stocks in LME warehouses rose 1,450 tonnes to total 480,900 tonnes, the highest since mid-April.