Comex copper futures ended mixed on Monday as traders concentrated on rolling positions into the next-active July contract from nearby May before first notice day on April 30, dealers said.
Switch trades dominated the session though the trade was seen quietly bottom-picking in copper at lower prices after last week's broad sell-off as a surging US dollar pushed futures to 10-week lows.
May copper settled off 0.15 cent at $1.2415 a lb. after trading $1.23 to $1.247 which held inside on Friday's broader band. July settled 0.05 cent easier at $1.2425 after dealing from $1.248 to $1.23.
The rest finished down 0.15 cent to up 0.85 cent. "Other than rollover, we have been quiet, as London copper has too," one floor trader said. "Rollover is starting to come in today July should be most active on Thursday or Friday."
Amid last on Wednesday's speculative exodus in the metals complex, May copper hit a 10-week low of $1.2050. That was around 20 cents below the 8-1/4 year high it touched March 2 at $1.4030.
Open interest in may copper fell 1,604 contracts to 21,767 lots as of April 26, while interest in July increased 2,199 to 26,150 contracts. Total open interest in futures rose 1,223 to relatively light 68,786 lots.
Final estimated volume was 23,000 lots, with 5,220 switches, against on Friday's official turnover at 11,818 lots.
Sales of US homes shot up to a record high in March, the government said in a data that lent background support to copper as an industrial metal.
New home sales jumped 8.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 1.228 million annual pace, in the biggest monthly surge since last June that was helped by still low mortgage rates.
But a strong dollar was weighing on metals. A firmer greenback typically depresses immediate demand for dollar-priced metal from overseas traders holding foreign currencies.
On Friday's CFTC Commitments of Traders report showed the net long speculative position in Comex copper futures increased to 8,774 contracts as of April 20 from 7,334 on April 12.
"The big issue now is to what extent the funds might go on to reverse to the short side of the market, or when and where they might look to buy again," IFR Markets analyst Tim Evans wrote in a research note.
Evans pegs first resistance in Comex July copper at $1.2550 and the $1.28-$1.29 level, with support at $1.2080.
LME three-month copper closed $5 higher at $2,717 a tonne. Comex is a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.