COMEX copper opened steady at the one-month highs reached on Thursday, briefly found strength from a tepid US sentiment reading, and then turned down when the dollar subsequently rose on the report and copper traders decided to grab quick profits ahead of the weekend, traders said.
The dollar gained modestly against major European currencies on Friday after a below-consensus reading of US consumer sentiment was seen as close enough to expectations to relieve pressure on the dollar.
Some copper speculators took advantage of the 3 cents added to COMEX prices on Thursday and booked profits on Friday.
Benchmark December copper slid 0.65 cent to $1.2950 a lb, in a range spanning $1.29 to $1.3090 With trading desks thinned by the Jewish New Year holiday sellers found it easy to push through their orders.
Spot September lost 0.95 cent, with the rest down 0.50 to up 0.20 cent. COMEX estimated 1000 am EDT (1400 GMT) copper volume at 3,000 lots.