New York copper futures traded with small losses on Wednesday after rushing up to a record high in spot business and to a lifetime high on the benchmark contract, COMEX brokers said. They were hasty to add, however, that the incremental gains to successive contract highs occurred on small trades and were therefore not sustainable in the immediate term.
Copper for September delivery slipped 0.65 cent to $1.58 a lb at the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. But it was bouncing around in choppy trade throughout the morning. It traded in a range from $1.5760 to a new life-of-contract high at $1.5940 a lb.
Spot July copper was down 0.35 cent at $1.6470 a lb. Earlier, it ran up to a new all-time high at $1.6550 per lb.
COMEX estimated 10 am EDT copper volume at 3,000 lots.