US copper futures finished lower on Tuesday, with a sell off sparked by dollar strength, but some copper buyers jumped back in to minimise the damage once the dollar clipped its gains, traders said. "The banks started to sell it and that set the tone for the day. Once it fell about a penny, I think it left a sour taste in people's mouths. A bit of fund selling ensued after that and the locals jumped on the band wagon and triggered some light stops," said one trader, who added that periodic episodes of short cover buying kept copper supported.
At the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark March copper moved up from the session low at $1.4030 a lb. to close 1.90 cents lower at $1.4160 per lb. The slipped from high at $1.4370.
Spot February ended down 1.20 cents at $1.4510 a lb., with the rest settling from 1.25 to 1.55 cents lower. Comex estimated final copper volume at 16,000 lots, a heftier clip than the 9,385 turnover on Monday.
Some chart watchers said that much of the selling turned technical once the selling was underway. "It took a few visits to around $1.40, but the sellers couldn't break it down," said one trader.
He pointed out that some short-cover buyers were encouraged to buy when March support held at $1.40. Traders said players holding long positions need to see higher levels going forward to remain bullish, which means copper is likely to stay pinned in a wide range for awhile.
"The market's very rangebound, in a wide range. But the market has shown it can play within that range. Right here you're kind of stuck in no man's land.
He added that funds are unlikely to sell copper short either, because bullish fundamentals suggest a long-term downtrend is not likely either. Copper trimmed its losses when the dollar shrugged off key manufacturing data to trade little changed against major currencies on Tuesday.
LME copper for three-month delivery ended the on Tuesday evening kerb sharply lower at $3,042 a tonne, down from $3,082 at Monday's close.
Copper slid to a session low at $3,031 down from the high at $3,090.