COMEX copper prices were lower on Friday, after bouncing down and up, and traders said prices should continue to gyrate as the market alternates between selling on dollar strength and buying on improved economic data.
Traders also said technical concerns influenced prices as players with short positions taken out during the early week's selling spree were in a tug-of-war with new long positions added on Thursday.
"There's a steady flow of small buy orders. Nothing fierce. No real selling coming into the market. I think the sell side was a little overdone last night. They were able to push the market lower in a very thin market," a COMEX broker said.
COMEX active May copper was 1.40 cent lower at $1.3250 a lb., but not before climbing above day-earlier gains. May's range was $1.3150 to $1.3440.
Spot March lost 1.85 cent to $1.3170 a lb. Only a few nearby contracts traded and were down 0.05 cent to 1.39 cents.
Despite the declines, some traders said they thought copper prices could go higher by the end of the day. They noted that the red metal was trading in a higher range with limited downside and light volume.
COMEX estimated 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) copper volume at 3,000 lots.
One trader said he thought Monday's high at $1.3430 for May futures should serve as resistance for May copper, noting that copper's unusually strong finish on Thursday changed the complexion of the market.