New York copper futures slipped early Thursday on worries about the fallout from the deadly attacks across London, but an apparent shortage of the economically crucial metal kept prices from falling far. "Right now it's calm and all the nervousness seems to have gone out of the market," said a New York floor broker.
Traders in London took profits on long copper positions accumulated this week after several huge explosions ripped though London's subway and bus system on Thursday.
At least 30 people were killed and hundreds injured in what British interior minister Charles Clarke called "terrorist attacks," which disrupted a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the blast "barbaric" before rushing home.
At 10:13 am EDT (1413 GMT) at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, September copper was down 0.30 cent at $1.5270 a lb, trading from $1.5425 to a low of $1.5060.
Spot July copper fell 0.30 cent to $1.60 a lb.