New York copper futures quietly mixed on Tuesday as the market failed to attract follow-through buying from Monday's run to fresh 16-year highs, traders said. "It looks like we're taking a breather from yesterday's gains. There's not a whole lot of business down here ... we're basically just following London," said one floor source.
By 10:27 am EDT (1427 GMT), copper for September delivery was up 0.20 cent to $1.5630 a lb at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing in a quiet $1.5560-$1.5680 band.
On Monday the active contract hit a midmorning high at $1.5820, the best price for a benchmark contract since early 1989.
Spot July copper dropped 1.10 cents at $1.6130 a lb.
COMEX estimated copper volume at 9 am EDT was a thin 2,000 contracts.