Copper futures were barely lower on Tuesday, with Friday's losses giving way to light follow-through selling in an otherwise featureless session, traders said.
"It's very quiet, sitting a little below unchanged. Kind of a featureless day. Volume is extremely light. Since it's so quiet some speculators sold it against Friday's highs," one broker said.
Copper traders were returning from a long holiday weekend. Copper trading on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange closed early on Friday and was shut on Monday for the US Labour Day holiday. Benchmark December copper slipped 0.15 cent to $1.2380 a lb, after trading from $1.2340 to $1.2460 a lb.
Spot September rose 0.05 cent to $1.2410. Back month contracts were mixed, down 0.45 cent to up 0.10 cent in early dealings. COMEX estimated copper volume at 2,000 lots by 9 am EDT.