COMEX copper futures fell early Thursday, pulled lower by the euro's weakness against the dollar, but traders said copper was supported by light buying at the lows. Traders said they thought speculators were using the euro as a reason to sell so they could probe for stop-loss sell orders. "0I think we're just bouncing around with the euro today. We've been in a range. I think some people are looking for stops below $1.41 a lb (on March futures), only because it was a recent low," said one copper trader.
At the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark March copper fell 1.90 cents to $1.4160 per lb, in a range between $1.4130 and $1.4380.
Spot January lost 1.45 cents to $1.4710. Early trading extended further out along the board than usual this morning, and later-dated contracts stood steady to down 1.85 cents. COMEX estimated 9:00 am EST (1400 GMT) volume at 3,000 lots.