Light speculative selling pressured US copper futures at the open Tuesday, but the losses were limited and prices managed to extend their recent rally, with tight market conditions continuing to offer support, sources said.
"The market has been well-trained ... every time you see a sell-off, there are always willing buyers that step in and buy it, so the trend is still higher," said one COMEX floor dealer.
By 10:43 am EST (1443 GMT), copper for May delivery was up 0.55 cent at $2.5530 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, dealing between $2.5275 and a new life-of-contract high at $2.5650, hit in overnight electronic trade.
Spot April traded 0.80 cent higher at $2.5850, dealing between $2.5580 and $2.5850, which matched Monday's all-time record for the COMEX spot contract. COMEX 10 am EST copper volume was estimated at 5,000 lots.