US MIDDAY: copper up

Copper ended up on Monday, swept up in a relief rally spanning the wider commodity complex following last week's massive sell-off, but another credit-rating cut in Europe added to global slowdown fears and capped the move. Copper trimmed its overnight gains after Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's rating into junk territory on doubts Athens can manage its debt without imposing losses on private bondholders.
In New York, the July COMEX copper contract regained its footing above the $4 per lb level to settle at $4.0165 per lb, a gain of 1 percent from Friday. Tin stocks rose to their highest in more than a year, up 305 tonnes to 21,720 tonnes. Tin ended up $145 at $29,795 a tonne. It hit a record high of $33,600 in April.