Copper futures dropped a touch in light morning trading in Asia on Monday as Chinese investors took profits, but interest from funds is seen supporting prices, dealers said. By 0513 GMT, copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $3,223/3,228 a tonne, down from London's close of $3,243 on Friday. "Chinese investors are liquidating their longs, which could see prices pushed down to $3,200, where there should be some short-covering," said a Tokyo-based trader by phone.
Some traders say US dollar weakness and strong demand for the red metal from China could boost prices to test last Monday's 16-year high of $3,270 a tonne and a record $3,280 set in January 1989.
"It will depend on what the funds do, as these prices are already pretty high," said a trader in Hong Kong, who said support for copper was evident at $3,220.
The US dollar was mostly flat on Monday at 104.76 Japanese yen by 0457 GMT, after slipping on US jobs data, which, although healthy, did not point to interest rates rising at a faster pace as some investors had expected.