US copper futures started with steep gains on Tuesday, when some participants needed to cover short positions a day after a sharp sell-off, traders said. On Monday, some fund investors sold holdings in copper as well as other commodities after deciding to take profits ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting Tuesday, when it was expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point.
But copper traders said red metal losses were probably overdone and some players needed to cover short positions.
At the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark May copper rallied 1.30 cents to $1.5020 a lb., but the high reached up to $1.5080 from a low at $1.4840.
Spot March copper rose 1.60 cent to $1.5050 a lb. Back month contracts were up 0.30 to 1.60 cents. A few contracts hit new lifetime highs.
One trader said Tuesday's buying came from all sectors of the copper market, from locals to funds.
"There are a lot of people who overextended to the downside and now they're having to buy back to cover their shorts. But it's pretty well mixed," said one copper trader.
COMEX estimated 10 am copper volume at 7,000 lots. Traders said some of the selling on Monday was triggered by anticipation of a stronger dollar after the Federal Reserve's rate setting meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Though the decision would not be released until after the close of COMEX trading, the Fed was widely expected to raise its target for short-term US interest rates by a quarter point to 2.75 percent, its seventh successive rate hike.
Some market participants feared the US central bank may prepare for larger interest increases to harness inflation.
While some copper players had anticipated a rally in the dollar, the US currency was steady on Tuesday morning, however, following the US producer price report. Big gains in food and energy costs pushed the US producer price index up a sharp 0.4 percent in February.
While the core index, minus food and energy prices, seemed subdued at just a 0.1 percent increase, analysts said the risk was for a larger number going forward.
And, when averaged with last month's 0.8 percent rise in core inflation, Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics said, "You don't have a very good result." A band of support between $1.4705 to $1.4760 a lb. for May copper held in Monday's selloff, leading some traders to believe there was only limited scope to the downside.
Several attempts to push it lower were met with buying on dips, prompting some traders to call for higher copper prices.
London Metal Exchange three-months copper was higher at $3,278 a tonne, after Monday's settlement at $3,250 a tonne.
Last week the red metal, used in electrical products, electronics, home building and other industrial uses, hit a record high of $3,307 per tonne.